Film Analysis

Kelly Nyks and Jared P. Scott’s film, Disruption, sheds light on the global detrimental effects that climate change has, does, and will, have on the planet. Simultaneously, the film follows the process leading up to the 2014 People’s Climate March, which is recognized as the largest climate change march in history.  

The film opens with historic footage of the monumental Apollo 8 moon landing. In doing so, from the very beginning, humanity’s desire to physically push and transgress the boundaries of Earth is not only ingrained in the minds of viewers, but also sets the tone of film. Throughout the film, everyone from renowned authors and scientists to local Reverends makes it blatant that the knowledge of the potential mass destruction and devastation encompassed within climate change has been around for decades, yet, there has not been a holistic shift to combat it. Even as live footage of mass pollution, melting glaciers, and crumpled cities submerged with water grace the screen reveal the reality of the impact of climate change on our world today, scientists and activists blatantly explain that civilians continue to forge ahead in blissful ignorance. Among other things, in our collective mass consumption, rather exploitation, of natural resources, Earth’s inhabitants, as a unified group, are pushing the physical boundaries of Earth - eventually to the point where it is out of balance and  inhabitable.

Despite the film being produced by PF pictures, a production that has produced many other films regarding the perils of climate change such as, Age of Consequences, Do the Math, and The Artificial Leaf, the statistics, messages, and predictions regarding the state of our planet does not come across as “dramatized” or reminiscent of propaganda as it is almost always by scientific evidence or simple facts. The film even goes as far to state the societal and psychological reasons why so many civilians disregard or are unaware of climate change, which forces the viewer to reflect on their own perspective and actions in regard to the environment and the role they play in shaping it.

The film concludes with the People’s Climate March, which took place a couple months before the film’s release, in the Fall of 2014. By concluding the film with a monumental and unified effort, viewers have no choice but to feel inspired and informed after watching Destruction. The film propels the injustices attached to the environment forward, but also offers solutions. Walking away from this film, I feel far more informed and invested in climate justice.