Based on an epic and prophetic poem by Swedish Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson, directors Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja's astounding and apocalyptic Aniara is a starkly beautiful piece of cinema wrought with emotion.
Aboard a luxury spaceship named Aniara, a colony of materialistic and consumption-obsessed humans flee the now-destroyed Earth. They are bound for the promised land of Mars where they are due to join family and friends who have preceded them. When the ship is struck by flying debris and knocked off-course, Aniara’s inhabitants are left to float in space until they can catch the orbit of a celestial body to get back on course. But as time passes, the deceitful captain’s reassurances that they will reach their destination wear thin, and the once hopeful occupants begin to unravel along with the orderly social structure inside their bubble of civilisation. Even amidst uncertainty and dread, they continue to indulge in every material amenity they can grasp, illuminating this captivating tale as a caustic metaphor for humanity's capacity for self- delusion, self-abuse, and consumption.
