Final 12 months, non-profit group Good Power launched what it referred to as a Bechdel Take a look at for local weather change, analyzing the 12 months’s Oscar nominees to see which movies cowl local weather change — or a minimum of discuss with it as part of actuality. Solely three films handed the preliminary take a look at, and amongst 2025’s nominees, only a single movie serves as a reminder concerning the affect local weather change has on our surroundings.
That film is “The Wild Robotic,” nominated for Greatest Animated Characteristic at this 12 months’s Oscars, and it’s the one one in all 11 totally different movies (out of 30 Oscar-nominated options) that met Good Power’s necessities as as to whether a film ought to acknowledge the existence of local weather change: 1) Being set on Earth, and a pair of) Happening within the current, latest previous, or close to future. (We’ll let the “close to future” component of “Wild Robotic” slide only a bit.)
Solely “The Wild Robotic” did two easy issues essential to then move the actual take a look at: “The Wild Robotic” confirmed a world by which it’s clear local weather change exists, and {that a} character within the movie is aware of it.
It’s one heck of a illustration too. “The Wild Robotic” features a superb second of world constructing the place whales may be seen swimming over the remnants of the Golden Gate Bridge — that’s how a lot the tide has risen. Good Power additionally singled out one explicit scene in “The Wild Robotic” by which the protagonist robotic Rozzum finds a journey pamphlet on the bottom that reads “Florida — Extra Shoreline Than Ever!” It’s a throwaway joke, however Good Power was tickled that the animators took the time to make the pamphlet’s map intently resemble projected sea-level rise.
“That’s the world we enter in ‘The Wild Robotic,’ the place local weather impacts and conditions — from sea-level rise to hints that people have remoted themselves in climate-safe, domed cities — are subtly woven into the material of the storyworld,” the Good Power examine analyzing the varied nominees reads.
The movie handed their take a look at despite the fact that the phrases “local weather change” will not be explicitly spoken, however the animals all acknowledge the looming “worst storm I’ve ever seen,” and that “collaboration and compassion are the best way to outlive our local weather future,” because the examine provides.
The opposite 10 movies that met Good Power’s qualifying standards to even take the Bechdel Take a look at of types embrace “A Totally different Man,” “A Actual Ache,” “Anora,” “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Inside Out 2,” “Sing Sing,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” and “The Substance.” None of these movies are environmental parables the best way “The Wild Robotic” is, however Good Power argues that simply representing local weather change through informal references in a narrative helps floor a movie in actuality and lift consciousness to the general public concerning the urgency of the matter.
Amongst 2025’s nominees, Good Power additionally touted “Movement,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” and “Dune: Half Two” as different movies that discover local weather themes, although they didn’t meet the qualifying standards. Final 12 months, the Oscar nominees that checked each bins of Good Power’s take a look at have been “Barbie,” “Mission: Unimaginable — Lifeless Reckoning Half 1,” and “Nyad.”
Anna Jane Joyner, the founder and CEO of Good Power, mentioned she believes Hollywood has discovered methods of speaking about local weather change in films with out resorting to tales about ecoterrorists or “neighbors yelling at you about your recycling.”
“After a harrowing 12 months by which all of us skilled the local weather disaster, we desperately want extra tales that assist us discover that means and braveness within the face of it,” Joyner mentioned. “‘The Wild Robotic’ is a fascinating depiction of life within the age of local weather change — a poignant exploration of resilience, overcoming fears and variations, and the facility of group in an unsure world. Whereas we look ahead to the day when extra Oscar-nominated movies mirror our actuality, we couldn’t be extra thrilled {that a} story with such artistry and emotional depth has executed so this 12 months.”
See the complete Good Power examine right here.