From Hollywood thrillers like Sinners and One Battle After Another, to indie crowd-pleasers like Folktales and Orwell: 2+2=5, impact is playing a starring role on the big screen.
Climate change is an increasingly frequent theme. According to an analysis by Good Energy, nearly a third of Oscar nominees set on Earth in the present, recent past or future acknowledged climate change in the plot, an all-time high. Many social themes – from inequality and racial injustice, to the threats of AI and misinformation – are also shaping the stories that have audiences flocking to theaters (or at least to streaming platforms).
Excellence in impact storytelling is not yet recognized by the Academy, so we are doing our part to shine a light on the films that are driving conversations and inspiring action among impact investors and the broader sustainability community.
Without further ado, here are the winners of ImpactAlpha’s first unofficial Impact Oscars.
Best Comedy: Good Fortune
If the hit Apple TV show Severance is about how people try to balance work with their personal lives, then Good Fortune is about what happens when work consumes every part of your life.
Good Fortune, Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut, is more than just a slapstick comedy – it’s a clever exploration of the gig economy and the disconnect between the rich and the poor. When Seth Rogen’s character, a wealthy venture capitalist, gets to see what it’s like to be dependent on gig work, he’s quickly humbled by just how hard it is to make ends meet. Gone are his naive claims that down-and-out people, like the aspiring documentarian played by Ansari, just need to work harder. Instead, he realizes just how fortunate he is and is desperate to return to his life of privilege.
The impact investing industry often preaches the importance of “walking in someone else’s shoes” to help contextualize the lived experience of people we are trying to help. Impact reports are full of case studies and vignettes that attempt to highlight these intended beneficiaries – be it a worker, a student, or a refugee. But rarely do these stories have the emotional power of a film like Good Fortune, which goes beyond just telling audiences about the plight of gig economy works and instead shows us the sobering and at times ridiculous reality in which many people have found themselves. One in every 4 workers engages in gig work each year; for many, it’s their main source of income. Good Fortune doesn’t offer much in the way of solutions to the precariousness of a gig economy, but promoting more empathy and compassion between employers and workers is at least a good start.
[No Other Choice, South Korea’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category, also deserves recognition here and carries a lot of the same themes as Good Fortune (and The Running Man, for that matter), but is perhaps a bit too dark to be considered a true comedy.]Best representation of late-stage capitalism: The Running Man
Dystopias usually fall into a few familiar tropes. Sometimes it’s extreme weather (see: Life of Chuck, Mickey 17, Sirat) that leads to a collapse in societal norms, other times it’s a virus (28 Years Later), nuclear weapons (A House of Dynamite), killer robots (Tron: Ares), or aliens (Bugonia). But sometimes a film seems to tap into a deep undercurrent of unease that reflects our current reality.
That’s why this award goes to The Running Man, a film about a desperate blue collar worker (played by Glen Powell) who agrees to go on a dangerous reality TV show to try to win enough money to save his sick daughter. It’s like Squid Game, except the “game” in this case involves trying to evade professional assassins for 30 days. Or like The Hunger Games, except the players agree to participate. The common thread through these films is that the competition is manipulated to increase the entertainment value for viewers (and sponsors), all of whom know that only one participant may survive.
This kind of violent entertainment has a successful track record throughout history. The Romans loved their gladiators. Medieval populations flocked to tournaments to see jousts and melees. Even today, millions of Americans watch NASCAR hoping to see a crash. Some of the most popular shows – like Survivor, Naked & Afraid, Fear Factor, and Hot Ones – are essentially monetizing human suffering. So how many people would watch a person get hunted on live TV? And how many people would sign up to be hunted for the chance to win a life-changing amount of money? Judging by the trajectory of modern capitalism, the answer is probably far higher than we may be willing to accept.
Most memorable conspiracy theory: Eddington
There will undoubtedly be many more films made about the Covid-19 pandemic, but Ari Aster’s Eddington has set a high bar for capturing the social tension that broke apart many communities. Set in the fictional New Mexico town of Eddington, the film centers on a stand-off between the sheriff and mayor over mask mandates that quickly turns into a powder keg for other divisive issues. What makes Eddington so brilliant as a social commentary is how it portrays characters falling down the cascade of conspiracy theories. Skepticism about the pandemic leads to the proliferation of other conspiracy theories about everything from child trafficking (OK, the Epstein files showed there’s plenty of truth to that one) to whether vaccines are safe.
Adding intrigue to the machinations is a data center being built on the outskirts of town. “There’s a way of looking at the film and saying all of those stories and all of these characters are now just training data. The movie itself is training data,” Aster told Time in a recent interview.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia has many of the same conspiratorial themes as Eddington (Aster served as a producer on Bugonia, while Emma Stone starred in both films). But it’s far easier to wave away the conspiratorial provocations of one lone beekeeper (played by Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) as an isolated incident than it is to confront the systemic breakdown of a community like the one represented in Eddington. If there’s one thing to take away from Eddington, it’s that having a well-intentioned public official calling the shots isn’t enough to keep things from unwinding, no matter how popular or trusted that person may be. Civic leadership requires everyone to play a part, not just those in elected office.
Most dystopian use of technology – Mickey 17
For years, the closest preview most of us got of a nightmarish, tech-addled future was the TV series Black Mirror. These days, it’s hard for screenwriters to keep up with the rapid advancements of technology and the insidious ways it has infiltrated our daily lives. Mountainhead, created by Succession writer Jesse Armstrong, was almost too tame in its characterization of the kind of power tech bros are really after.
Mickey 17 director Bong Joon Ho (who also directed thrillers like Parasite, Okja, and Snowpiercer) has no such qualms in imagining the unimaginable. The key technology at the heart of Mickey 17 is a biological printer that allows someone to be “reprinted” after death with all of their memories intact. Of course, once death (the permanent kind) is removed as an occupational hazard, there are no shortage of dangerous and undesirable tasks that a desperate worker (Mickey, played by Robert Pattinson) would be willing to do, even in the face of an increasingly gruesome series of deaths. Let’s be honest: nobody would be surprised if it was revealed some tech billionaire was already working on a version of this cloning technology in their quest for immortality, or at least trans-humanism. At least Bryan Johnson, the tech entrepreneur obsessed with living forever, is courteous enough to test his unproven anti-aging regimen on himself first.
Most Beautiful Nature Cinematography – Train Dreams
Most Terrifying Nature Cinematography – The Lost Bus
These two categories belong together because nature can indeed be both beautiful and terrifying. All it takes is a spark to turn these majestic forests into harbingers of death and destruction.
Both Train Dreams, a period drama based on a novella by Denis Johnson, and The Lost Bus, a film about the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California that I reviewed last year, provide a before-and-after view of the natural environment after a catastrophic wildfire. Train Dreams is set in the Idaho Panhandle during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, while The Lost Bus unfolds in northern California in 2018. One stars a lumberjack (played by Joel Edgerton), the other a bus driver (played by Matthew McConaughey). Although the films are separated by about 100 years and 800 miles, they tell a similar story about humanity’s precarious relationship to their environment and the awesome power of nature to reduce human ambition to ashes.
Yes, we can log forests for their lumber and build communities alongside these ecosystems. But we are forever at the mercy of bigger forces, especially in a fast-warming world. These two films show viewers why it’s important to treat nature with a healthy degree of respect.
Best Celebration of Culture: Sinners
Sinners has set a record with 16 Oscar nominations, but we hope the achievement it’s most remembered for is its powerful and visually stunning celebration of Black culture in the Mississippi Delta. As I wrote in a separate ImpactAlpha piece about creative ownership, one of the most memorable scenes from Sinners is a five-minute musical medley that takes viewers through a lightning history of African-American music and dance. Blues. Hip-hop. West African tribal music. Gospel. Rock ‘n’ roll. All these musical genres blend together into a brilliant mosaic of Black culture rarely represented on the big screen.
For many Black people, the South is “a place that’s associated with a lot of pain, a lot of shame, a lot of discomfort,” Sinners director Ryan Coogler said in an interview published last year. But, he added, “to completely look away from it is to not look at what else was there. The resilience, the brilliance, the fortitude, and also the art, the artistic wonder, the cultural wonder.”
Coogler, who could be the first Black filmmaker to win the Best Director award, has made a career creating blockbusters around Black culture and identity, including cultural phenomenons Black Panther and Creed. What unites these films – besides Michael B. Jordan in a leading role – is a celebration of the stories of people who are often underestimated or misunderstood. By shattering box office records, Coogler has also shattered stereotypes about what can succeed in Hollywood, and beyond. Films like Sinners can perhaps inspire other celebrations of diverse cultures in our communities, our schools, and our daily lives.
Most Impactful Documentary: The Alabama Solution
There was no shortage of powerful documentaries last year. All the Empty Rooms offered a haunting reminder about the consequences of school shootings. Thoughts & Prayers focused on the lucrative active shooter preparedness industry. The Devil is Busy brought viewers into an Atlanta abortion clinic where patients are harassed by protestors. Prime Minister offered a behind-the-scenes look at the life and work of Jacinda Ardern, the former leader of New Zealand, during a particularly tenuous time in her tenure. Orwell: 2+2=5 explored the life of George Orwell and the timely lessons from his dystopian novel, 1984.
Which documentary was the most impactful? My vote goes to The Alabama Solution, which uses footage from men inside an Alamaba prison system to tell a shocking story about human rights abuses, an attempted cover-up of a murder by prison guards, and a criminal justice system more intent on punishment than rehabilitation. Frustrated by their continued mistreatment and exploitation as laborers, a group of incarcerated men launched the Free Alabama Movement and in 2016 helped organize the largest prison strike in US history, which brought together 24,000 prisoners across 24 states. Despite intense public pressure – and a 2019 Department of Justice investigation that found Alabama’s prisons to be unconstitutional – the state’s leaders have done little to address the issue.
Filmmakers Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman are keeping up the pressure following their six-year investigation into the systemic failures within the Alabama prison system. Working together with local partners, they built a database of the nearly 1,400 people who had died in state custody between 2019 and 2024, at least 470 of whom reportedly died from preventable causes (e.g., suicide, drugs, violence, officer brutality). They also launched an impact campaign aimed at increasing safety and accountability within the Alabama prison system and ensuring constitutional protections for incarcerated Alabamians.
There are so many more layers to this story, including the open question of what’s happening in other state prison systems. But sometimes it takes a focused campaign and strong protagonists to shake the halls of power. Just last week, the Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a legislative proposal to bring more oversight to the state’s prison system. Maybe the spotlight from the Oscars is just the push Alabama’s legislators need?
Biggest Climate Hero: Reed Richards (Fantastic Four: First Steps)
There are a lot of great contenders for this award. The emergency response workers featured in The Lost Bus did amazing work in an impossible situation, not to mention the bus driver that literally saved a group of schoolchildren. Jake Sully, the main protagonist in Avatar: Fire and Ash, led an inspirational defense against a militarized corporation that was intent on destroying the environment of Pandora in pursuit of valuable resources.
But my favorite example of climate heroism came from Reed Richards (played by Pedro Pascal), the protagonist in Fantastic Four. Richards, a brilliant scientist, devises an ingenious plan to save Earth that depends upon every country conserving energy to help power a special device that could neutralize an intergalactic superpower threatening the planet. Faced with the imminent threat of extinction, world leaders rally to the cause. This is the rare kind of superhero story where collective action is paramount – yes, Reed and his Fantastic Four teammates take the lead, but everyone pitches in, even the “Mole Man” who helps lead humanity into an underground shelter during the height of the battle.
Many climate activists argue we need a “wartime plan” to rapidly decarbonize the economy and avoid the worst effects of climate change. Fantastic Four underscores that such efforts will only succeed if world leaders can first set aside their differences to address a common foe.
Biggest Climate Villain: Resource Development Administration (Avatar: Fire and Ash)
Imagine if, instead of invading a sovereign country, as some are wont to do, a power-hungry force attempts to conquer an alien world inhabited by several highly intelligent species to extract valuable resources to send back to Earth – fully aware that this extraction would decimate the local ecosystem and lead to untold death and destruction. For some, an unconscionable risk. For the Resource Development Administration, the voracious villain in Avatar, a reasonable cost.
The third installment in the Avatar series, Fire and Ash, triples down on this plotline of a superpower willing to do whatever it takes to extract “unobtanium,” a fictional superconductor that could solve Earth’s energy crisis. The RDA is also after “amrita,” a substance that could make humans immortal but can only be derived from a whale-like species called “tulkun.”
You’d think that the RDA, which in the world of Avatar is recognized as the largest single non-governmental organization in the universe, would reassess its strategy after losing what must be billions of dollars in equipment and personnel over the course of three films (with two more reportedly on the way!). But the potential gains are so great, that no social or environmental cost will deter their imperial ambitions. Sound familiar?
