From “Avatar: The Way of Water” to “All That Breathes” to “Climate Crisis: Drought” to “Leave the World Behind”, here are 10 of the top climate-related films to stream in 2023.
1. “Avatar: The Way of Water”, directed by James Cameron, covers important environmental themes, but was also part of a fundraising campaign to help save the world’s oceans in real life. The Keep our Oceans Amazing viral fundraising campaign involved fans creating their own “Avatar”-inspired ocean creature and for each one created in the Virtual Pandoran Ocean, Disney gave $5 to The Nature Conservancy. This movie was powered by solar electricity and Cameron had only plant-based food served on the film’s set. “Avatar: The Way of Water” is available to stream on Disney+:
2. “The Elephant Whisperers” is based in India, where a tribal couple decides to foster an orphaned baby elephant. But, the arrival of the gentle giant Raghu changes the lives of his foster parents. It won the Oscar for best documentary short film and is available to stream on Netflix:
3. “All That Breathes”, the Oscar-nominated documentary film explores humankind’s connection to wildlife and climate change, available to stream on Crave in Canada and HBO Max:
4. “Polar Bear” by Disneynature, narrated by Catherine Keener, this documentary film is about the plight of a polar bear mother in the challenging world polar bears are facing today, available to stream on Disney+:
5. “Leave the World Behind” is a new dystopian film — executive produced by Michelle and Barack Obama, with an all-star cast, including Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali and Kevin Bacon — that touches on environmental disaster and how it affects the migration of wildlife, available to stream on Netflix:
6. “Climate Crisis: Drought” features the legendary David Attenborough and focuses on the extreme drought conditions that are increasingly threatening livelihoods around the world. Focusing on the summer of 2022, when China was on the brink of a water catastrophe after it was hit by its worst heatwave since 1961, this documentary is available to stream on Tubi:
7. “The Village”, a film starring Ryusei Yokohama, is based on issues affecting modern Japanese society, including environmental issues, poverty and societal inequalities, along with a warped social structure:
8. “The Territory”, directed by Alex Pritz, provides a look at the fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers in the Brazilian Amazon, available to stream on National Geographic:
9. “The Weight of Water: The Human Cost of Climate Crisis”, a documentary based in Nepal focuses on three stories focused on how communities are impacted by flooding and drought. The extended trailer is available on the Deej Phillips Films Facebook page:
10. “Elemental”, an animated film that touches on a family of climate migrants that are forced to leave their homelands after a storm destroyed their village, available to stream on Disney+: