Like many environmentally aware film enthusiasts, I’ve watched Don’t Look Up multiple times and have shared it with my friends and family whenever someone suggests a movie night. Now, I’m excited to discuss The End We Start From, a new 2024 release featuring Killing Eve star Jodie Comer. The Liverpudlian actress portrays a new mother seeking shelter with her baby as London becomes flooded. As someone who is concerned about climate disasters, I often take the chance to educate my loved ones in an engaging or thought-provoking manner. It’s a refreshing change from the usual gloom that conversations can sometimes spiral into. The power of cinema in conveying the climate crisis is unmistakable.
This is something I’ve increasingly recognized in my own research on the history of the environmental movement in the UK. Undoubtedly, over the past two decades, I’ve observed a more focused effort in cinema and television to directly tackle the issues of climate catastrophe. Given the complexities underlying the science of climate change, effective communication plays a crucial role in shaping public attitudes and behaviors concerning environmental justice. However, it’s only recently that cinema, and narrative visual fiction more broadly, has been acknowledged as having a significant role in that communication. Using fictional narratives to connect an audience with environmental issues has many advantages. First, this approach appeals to our emotions in a way that scientific presentations, academic papers, or broadcast interviews rarely can. Ultimately, films uniquely engage our emotions, a vital step in influencing changes in people’s behavior.
Films can leverage this by embedding climate messages within imaginative narratives that experienced moviegoers will recognize. In Don’t Look Up, it’s meteor strikes; in Mahalia Belo’s The End We Start From, it’s severe flooding. Even without such strong visual representation, films focusing on personal journeys toward awareness can be equally powerful. Paul Schrader’s excellent First Reformed centers on climate activism. Second, films and television dramas can simplify the vastness of climate catastrophe by integrating everyday occurrences.
The interpersonal relationships in the BBC series Years and Years, a six-part drama following three generations of a family in Manchester from 2019 to 2034, help viewers relate to the characters’ experiences. This is an effective method for embedding climate issues in public discourse, as it establishes a personal connection and makes the climate message more relatable and impactful. The End We Start From depicts the everyday experience of raising a newborn, set against the backdrop of severe flooding in London. This creates a strong emotional link between the film’s themes and the viewers’ own experiences. The emotional journeys of the characters reflect the audience’s concerns and hopes. This builds a powerful empathetic connection that can inspire behavioral change more effectively than facts and data alone. Third, the stark imagery of environmental destruction, supported by increasingly impressive special effects and CGI, leaves a lasting visual impact. This boosts public awareness and concern. The Day After Tomorrow, released in 2004, can be seen as the first climate blockbuster.
lthough it had a relatively minor immediate effect on shifting people’s views on climate change, it paved the way for more cinematic investigations into climate change-related visuals, and the real-world impact of extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and rapid temperature changes. More than the effects, the art of storytelling can make climate science more memorable to viewers. Often called “cli-fi”, the blending of science fiction tales with dystopian climate futures uses a post-climate breakdown as the backdrop for the film’s imagined narrative.
Films like Bong Joon Ho’s brilliant Snowpiercer or George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road communicate the seriousness of the real issues of the social, cultural, and political impacts of climate catastrophe. The growing genre of climate change cinema isn’t always scientifically accurate. But if cinema is to be used more aggressively as a tool to increase public awareness of climate catastrophe, then precision isn’t entirely necessary: it’s the emotional connection and captivating storytelling that are most critical. Films like The End We Start From and Don’t Look Up are more than just entertainment; they’re vital tools in enlightening and mobilizing public opinion.
As we deal with the increasing challenges of climate catastrophe, embracing diverse and emotionally compelling storytelling in mainstream media becomes essential. Through these narratives, we can nurture a more informed, concerned, and proactive global community.