Best climate change-focused films available to stream or rent now

Some films weave their messages on climate change into a broader narrative. Others build their entire story around it - and How to Blow Up a Pipeline is firmly in the latter camp.

Based on Andreas Malm’s non-fiction book of the same name, this film follows a fictional group of eight activists who decide to, you guessed it, blow up a pipeline, aiming to disrupt the production of an oil company after noticing its negative environmental and social impact.

What follows is an interesting debate on how climate activists should go about enacting change, as well as a gripping drama in its own right - receiving a 95 per cent score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Perhaps the climate change film of recent years, Don’t Look Up is far from a subtle bit of storytelling, wearing its motifs firmly on its sleeve, yet it is still a compelling, star-studded watch that generated plenty of debate when it was released.

Following Leonardo DiCaprio’s Dr Randall Mindy and Jennifer Lawrence’s Kate Dibiasky as they try desperately - and in vain - to warn of impending natural catastrophe, the film satirises western society’s shift towards a "post-truth" world with all the trademark Adam McKay sharpness you’d expect.

If our recommendation isn’t enough, perhaps its four Oscar nominations will do the trick.

2021 was a time for ignoring doomsayers, it seems. In the same year as Don’t Look Up, Captain Nova provides a more family-friendly - and science fiction-y - story of failing to prepare for environmental chaos.

As a fighter pilot heads back in time to warn of imminent doom, she struggles to convince authority figures of the truth in this fun, if flawed, blend of Edge of Tomorrow and Don’t Look Up.

Very few films have analysed the connection between religion and environmentalism, faith and science, but this Ethan Hawke-led drama tackles these often clashing principles head-on.

After a meeting with climate change activist Michael (Philip Ettinger), Hawke’s Reverend Toller begins to battle with a sense of existential dread, growing concerned about mankind’s impact on the natural world.

What makes the film so gripping is Toller’s internal debate as he struggles over whether the changing state of the world is God’s plan, or if Christians have a duty as stewards of the Earth to prevent it.

It’s rare to find a film that touches on truly unique themes, but Paul Schrader’s Oscar-nominated outing certainly achieves this.

OK, this one might not focus on our own planet, but director James Cameron uses Avatar to deliver a clear message: nature is worth fighting for. Following the Na'vi as their home planet of Pandora is invaded by humans, the film uses its groundbreaking visuals to demonstrate how the destructive impulses of our species can have lasting impacts.

Cameron himself has discussed how the movie’s call to action is ultimately that we should protect our own planet, previously revealing how he wanted to give viewers "a feeling that you [need] to connect better with nature". Immersing yourself in the beauty of Pandora might just inspire a greater appreciation for the beauty of Earth - and a greater willingness to protect it.

This remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic turns its focus towards climate change. As humans fail to change their behaviour to prevent environmental degradation, an alien lifeforce comes to Earth to teach us a lesson - with violent outcomes.

Led by Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, this reboot was strongly slated by critics, but its star-studded cast still tackles interesting themes amid the chaos.

Doing a Don’t Look Up almost two decades before Don’t Look Up, Roland Emmerich takes a rather more spectacular look at what happens when scientists are ignored, as Jack Hall’s (Dennis Quaid) warnings of calamity fall on deaf ears - with treacherous results.

Admittedly not the most optimistic on the topic of climate change, this ultimately uses the issue as a backdrop to tell a gripping tale of one man’s quest to reunite his family.