In the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, a New Year’s Eve celebration is interrupted when the ocean liner capsizes.
The disaster film follows passengers aboard the fictional SS Poseidon as a tsunami overturns the ship during a New Year’s Eve party. The story begins with the ship’s ballroom decorated for the holiday, creating a sharp contrast between the festive setting and the survival ordeal that follows.
After the vessel turns upside down, a small group led by Reverend Scott searches for a way to reach the hull, which has become the only route toward escape. Their journey takes them through inverted rooms, corridors, stairways, and flooded sections of the ship.
The film was directed by Ronald Neame and released by 20th Century Fox in 1972. It was adapted from Paul Gallico’s 1969 novel The Poseidon Adventure and became one of the best-known examples of the disaster-film genre. The ship and the tsunami are fictional elements, not a depiction of a real New Year’s Eve maritime accident.