Most people are aware of the Palisades fire that shook communities in California at the beginning of this year. But do they know what happened to the people who lived it? About the people who lost everything to the blaze?

Big Rock Burning is a spectacular tale of a government’s failure to protect its people, and the community and resilience that come after tremendous loss. In this moving documentary the residents of the Big Rock neighborhood in Malibu recount the tragic event and the moments that they realized that help wasn’t coming.

This documentary was just a glimpse into the pain and suffering that has left the Big Rock community reeling. It strikes viewers with stunning visuals and hellish archival footage of the flames as they scorched away home after home. Accompanied by a solemn and eerie soundtrack to score the rubble of such mass destruction, the documentary sends out a strong appeal to the viewer’s emotions.

Throughout the course of the film, some of the residents interviewed likened the fire to warfare. A look into the circumstances surrounding the fire reveals that it was a warfare they were doomed to weather by themselves. The government failed Big Rock, and the communities like it, immensely. As residents sit in the charred remains of their homes and share the ways that their community could have been saved, there is a lack of accountability for the devastation and loss of life caused by the unpreparedness of the Los Angeles City and County.

There are countless documentaries out there about tragedy and life after loss. But this one serve also as a condemnation for the unnecessary and preventable grief faced by communities at the hands of the people in charge. With safeguards rendered useless because of budget cuts and lack of funding, the documentary asks: “How could they let this happen?” and “How do we make sure it doesn’t happen again?” It is an indictment of the systems in place that allowed such a large-scale failure to occur, and a call to action for a better and more secure path forward.

When dealing with such a difficult, trauma-based topic, it is easy to let the subjects of a documentary be reduced to nothing more than victims. While the whole of Big Rock can aptly be described as such, it is not all that they are they are survivors. They seek to rebuild. They seek connection, and love, and they can see some of the silver linings that come with a community-wide disaster. While they were abandoned by the people in power, they did not abandon each other, and that makes all the difference.

Big Rock Burning is a reminder that when tragedy strikes the ability to rely on our communities will help get us through it. We can come back stronger and more prepared if we are willing to put in the effort and the time to fight for accountability.