Another month, another oil industry story breaking through into popular culture.

The oil industry has long served as good fodder for filmmakers and entertainers. However, unlike the strip-club glamour of recent TV series "Blood and Oil," newly released film "Deepwater Horizon" tells a much more serious story about negligence, sacrifice and the road to environmental catastrophe when BP's rig suffered a blowout in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

The movie, which cost more than $100 million to make, was an ambitious undertaking. When BP at the last minute denied the production team access to one of their rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, the filmmakers went all out and built their own rig in the ocean, which had to survive hurricane season.

"Deepwater Horizon" provides an intriguing look at the unique atmosphere of life on an isolated rig, and the intense relationships and camraderie that can can form there. The filmmakers were particularly inspired by the heroics of down-to-earth rig engineer Mark Williams, who is played by Mark Wahlberg.

Wahlberg has made clear that rather than follow the trend of telling the story of the environmental consequences of the disaster, he wanted to tell the human story of the individuals who lost their lives. This was the little-known story of men and women who had the chance to get in lifeboats but risked their lives trying to battle the blowout.

Where there is a hero, there also tends to be a villain — enter BP. The British major is represented in this case by a callous John Malkovich, who plays an exec who has flown in from the head office.

The filmmakers have tried to soften the edges of the film in interviews, insisting things have improved at BP post-spill, and in the industry as a whole. However, BP was not pleased and has responded assertively, saying in a statement that the film is "not an accurate portrayal of the evens that led to the accident, our people, or the character of our company."

The British major is probably also not pleased at the timing. The disaster, which happened only six years ago and resulted in the deaths of 11 men and widespread environmental damage, was a public relations disaster for the company. Now, just as the enormous $60 billion in settlement costs have been swallowed, the company has begun the slow process of re-earning public trust.

Just as the sad turn of events was beginning to drop off the headlines, this movie has put the event back in the spotlight. And it has done so not in the gray monotone of official reports, but in emotionally powerful technicolor imagery.

Some critics have sympathized with BP, alleging that the film plays fast and loose with the facts in the name of entertainment — this is Hollywood after all.

While the film clearly takes the side of Transocean (the rig leaser that employed the engineers killed during the explosion) against BP, the more likely reality is that a chain of errors with no single culprit was at fault in such a complex error. But that will be little comfort for BP, given that far more Americans are likely to go out and watch the film than read through the 150-page court report that offers a slightly more nuanced view.

This film portrays Deepwater Horizon as a fundamentally "unnatural disaster," brought on by shortcuts in the pursuit of profit. While this is much to the chagrin of its reluctant star actor, it is important that the story of catastrophic errors are retold, to prevent the industry slipping into complacency again.

In the meantime, the PR wheels at BP will have to keep spinning.