PORTLAND, Maine — While Aquaman's hero seems indifferent as oceans rise, audiences living through the actual climate crisis do not have that luxury. A new study by Colby College and nonprofit Good Energy reveals that most Hollywood blockbusters released between 2013 and 2022 have largely ignored the defining environmental issue of our time.
What the Climate Reality Check Found
Researchers analyzed 250 films and applied what they call the "climate reality check" — a test asking whether a movie depicts a world where climate change exists and whether any character acknowledges that reality. The bar is deliberately low, yet most films still failed.
Fewer than 10 percent of the 250 films passed the test. Climate change was mentioned in two or more scenes in fewer than 4 percent of the movies surveyed. Lead researcher Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, an English professor at Colby College, said the majority of popular films produced over the last decade simply fail to portray climate change at all.
Which Films Passed — and Which Didn't
Some films that are not primarily about climate change still cleared the bar. Marriage Story (2019) passed because a character is described as "energy conscious." Glass Onion (2022) and Midsommar (2019) also passed, as did the sharp satire Don't Look Up (2021), which addressed climate change directly.
Disaster films, by contrast, tended to fail. San Andreas (2015) and The Meg (2018) both missed the mark despite depicting large-scale environmental catastrophe. The study also found that streaming services offered more climate-aware films than major studios.
A New Benchmark for Filmmakers
Published in April and currently under peer review, the study gives both filmmakers and audiences a practical framework for evaluating how films represent the climate crisis. Harry Winer of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts — who was not involved in the research — called it "the discussion opener," predicting it will be used in marketing and audience engagement.
The authors designed the climate reality check to function similarly to the Bechdel-Wallace test, which gauges gender representation on screen. Alison Bechdel, who created the now-famous test in the 1980s, called the climate initiative "long overdue" — while cautioning that the goal should be meaningful storytelling, not gimmickry.
Why It Matters
Climate storytelling advocates argue that films shape how audiences understand and respond to real-world crises. When Hollywood's biggest productions treat a warming planet as background noise — or ignore it entirely — they risk reinforcing a cultural blind spot at precisely the moment awareness is most needed. The study's framework is intended as a tool for change, not just a scorecard.
