‘Rust’ Documentary Director: Halyna Hutchins’ Death Was ‘Eclipsed’ by Alec Baldwin ‘Frenzy’

A documentary about the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died on set of the film Rust in 2021 after being struck by a live bullet fired from Alec Baldwin’s prop gun, is heading to Hulu.

Premiering May 11, Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna will revisit the story of the fatal shooting and its aftermath, the publicity of which documentary director Rachel Mason says overshadowed Hutchins’ death.

“In the media frenzy which followed her death, it felt as if Halyna was erased, her loss eclipsed by the surrounding controversies,” Mason shared in a statement. “Our film aims to keep her at the center, while offering a portrait of the experience of those with whom she spent her final 12 days, which hopefully, through their efforts, offers the world a very much unfinished portrait of Halyna.”

The documentary announcement does not reveal who will be featured in Last Take, but notes the inclusion of “key individuals” as well as materials pulled from Hutchins’ personal archives and investigations into her death. “The film weaves together the accounts of those who were on the set of RUST that day and of those, like Mason, who not only lost a cherished friend and colleague but who are still navigating the trauma of the aftermath,” it reads.

“Halyna was dear to me for many reasons. Not only was she a friend, she was a collaborator,” Mason continued. “While she was alive, I could never have imagined making a film about her. My hope was to make films with her, and to support her in all the many films that she was sure to make.”

A synopsis for the film positions its central focus on answering the questions: “How could this have happened? And how do we possibly make sense of it?” Particularly, its interested in dissecting and reclaiming “the core of the story that the media exploited.”

Last summer, Baldwin was tried for involuntary manslaughter in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Judge Mary Marlowe Somme ultimately dismissed the case on grounds that the state withheld evidence from the defense. Baldwin recently sued the prosecutors in the case for violating his constitutional rights through “improper use of the criminal process.”