Greenland (2020)
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh
No · Ultra Based
How we score movies →Consciousness Markers
The supporting cast includes actors of color in secondary and tertiary roles, but they receive minimal character development and the narrative remains centered on the white protagonist family.
The protagonist's estranged wife exists primarily as a plot device to reunite the family. She has agency in the survival narrative but no independent arc or feminist consciousness.
The film depicts class-based access to bunkers and survival resources but treats this as inevitable backdrop rather than subject for critique or examination.
While the supporting cast is diverse, the film shows no awareness of how racial or ethnic identity affects survival chances or experience during apocalypse.
No LGBTQ+ characters or themes are present in the film.
Despite depicting a comet impact scenario, the film contains no climate consciousness, environmental advocacy, or commentary on planetary threats.
No body positivity messaging or representation of diverse body types is present in the film.
No neurodivergent characters or representation is evident in the film.
The film is not set in a historical period and contains no revisionist historical elements.
The film contains no preachy messaging or lecture-like exposition about social issues or progressive values.
Synopsis
John Garrity, his estranged wife and their young son embark on a perilous journey to find sanctuary as a planet-killing comet hurtles toward Earth. Amid terrifying accounts of cities getting levelled, the Garritys experience the best and worst in humanity. As the countdown to the global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven.
Why it received this score
Greenland is a 2020 action thriller that treats planetary apocalypse as a vehicle for family melodrama rather than social commentary. Gerard Butler runs through collapsing infrastructure, his family in tow, while the film maintains a steadfast commitment to avoiding any meaningful engagement with the systems that might have caused such a scenario or how it affects different populations. The supporting cast is adequately diverse in a way that feels incidental rather than intentional, present but not centered.
The film's depiction of societal breakdown remains resolutely apolitical. Class anxiety manifests as a plot device, not a subject of examination. The wealthy secure bunker access while others perish, but the narrative treats this disparity as natural consequence rather than structural injustice. There is no progressive sensibility at work here, merely the default action-movie instinct to follow the protagonist through chaos without interrogating the systems that created it.
This is a straightforward thriller about people running from disaster. It contains no LGBTQ+ themes, no feminist consciousness, no climate advocacy, no anti-capitalist messaging, and no interest in expanding representation beyond casting choices. It is entirely concerned with spectacle and interpersonal survival, nothing more.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Critic Reviews
“If you want a movie to nail-gun you to your seat, then you must visit Greenland.”
“At first glance, Ric Roman Waugh’s Greenland appears to be a spiritual sequel to Geostorm. Also starring Gerard Butler, that 2017 film is a silly, diverting disaster-action epic. Greenland is decidedly more nuanced, cerebral, and, frankly, memorable.”
“It’s just escapist enough to fill our disaster-flick needs, but don’t be surprised if Ric Roman Waugh’s film sometimes feels like too much, especially in the middle of an ongoing real-life calamity. To put it a simpler way: Greenland is not just effective; sometimes it’s too effective.”
“Much of Greenland features chaotic crowd scenes. The real disaster is how quickly mankind descends into dismaying depravity.”