For the third year, Good Energy has released its Climate Reality Check report on the season’s Academy Award-nominated films to determine if climate change was represented in the work. And this year, a record number of films passed the test.
Good Energy is a story consultancy that aims to increase climate change visibility in TV and film, and alongside Rice University professor Dr. Matthew Schneider-Mayerso, created the Climate Reality Check to measure the visibility of climate change onscreen. It was inspired by the popular Bechdel-Wallace Test, which evaluates the representation of women in TV and film, and asks two simple questions: if climate change exists, and if a character knows it.
Researchers applied the test to the 50 films that were nominated for an award at the Oscars; 16 of that group met the requirements of being scripted, feature-length films that are set on Earth and set in modern day. Of those 16 eligible films, five passed the Climate Reality Check: Arco, Bugonia, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Lost Bus and Sirāt.
That’s a 31 percent pass rate, with only 10 percent passing in 2025 and 23 percent in 2024.
“The five Academy Award-nominated films that reflect our climate reality are strikingly different from one another, but as different as these films are, they also share a common thread. These films reflect ordinary people — a bus driver, a beekeeper, friends at a rave — who dig deep and find the determination to meet the moment,” Anna Jane Joyner, founder and CEO of Good Energy, said in a statement. “In periods of uncertainty and rupture, stories give shape to chaos and help us envision a way forward. At it’s best, cinema reveals what’s at stake and who we might choose to be. Good Energy celebrates these bold storytellers and a defining year for climate visibility at the Oscars.”
Jurassic World Rebirth producer Patrick Crowley added that the Universal movie “is science fiction — but the emphasis is on science. It’s essential that the audience believes the story you’re telling could really happen, and that means doing your research and making sure even the biggest ideas are grounded in authenticity. And if we’re reflecting the world as it exists today, that authenticity has to include our relationship with the natural world and the impact we have on it. I hope we continue to see more stories that make heroes out of the people who dedicate their lives to protecting the planet.”
