Energy crisis: An actual collapse? Energy crisis and apocalypse societies in popular films

Abstract

This chapter is based on the claim that the energy crisis, frequently on the agenda for the last 20 years, has become one of the main issues of print and visual media. This study discusses two films, especially in 2015 and after, in which popular narratives are based on energy and energy crisis. Energy and energy crisis are depicted in many TV series, fictional films, and documentaries in the 2000s and beyond. This study investigates how the energy issue and the pursuit of science, technology, and remedies that come up with this issue are depicted in popular narratives. In this context, the films April and the Extraordinary World (2015, directed by Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci) and The Cloverfield Paradox (2018, directed by Julius Onah) were included in the study. The study analyzes how energy-themed films deal with the energy issue and how science, scientists, and technology act in the absence of energy. By emphasizing the importance of science, scientists, and technology, these films show that advancing in the footsteps of science and technology can offer a way out/emancipation when the world is experiencing energy supply problems.