CANNES 2021: Bigger Than Us
Festival de Cannes 2021While countless projects releasing throughout the year are more than willing to show the catastrophic destruction that humanity has caused on the environment, only a handful of films are willing to give a more positive outlook on the work being done to reverse these effects. Screening as part of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Flore Vasseur's Bigger Than Us does just this. Following a teenage activist named Melati who travels the globe meeting various individuals battling the effects of human-induced climate change and pollution, the film has a clear heart even if the thesis never fully becomes anything that shocking.
Possibly the best piece of the film is its ability to put a face and personality to the concepts it is discussing. While so many films will simply use voiceover with raw footage of the earth and its destruction to convey the film's point, Bigger Than Us forces the audience to see and converse with the humanity involved with the topic. This immediately hits closer to home and forces the audience to care more about whatever is being discussed. It isn't some piece of land the audience has never been to being affected, it is human life that is clearly the best vehicle to find empathy towards the cause who would be on the shelf.
The actual perspectives found also have quite a few standout moments. Melati is a perfectly adequate host for the audience to stick with throughout the film and there are quite a few individuals she meets that really do stand out. Specifically, when she meets with young individuals who already are taking the initiative at such a young age to change the world around them, the film can be deeply inspiring, especially for a topic that can make so many feel powerless and hopeless.
Beyond this feeling however, the film can struggle to find much of worth. While Melati is personable, she isn't in the position to really push her subjects, and the film itself had seemingly no intention to go much deeper than basic interviews with these people. When it comes to a larger thesis, Bigger Than Us simply finds nothing that hasn't already been said before. Whilst this doesn't necessarily make the film totally empty, it does make it feel a bit more forgettable than it should, working better as an introduction to the fight against climate change and pollution rather than an added voice to an already established conversation.
Ultimately, Bigger Than Us is fine. It easily could be imagined that this film will find a life in classrooms or community events trying to inspire those who might not necessarily already care about the issues discussed throughout the feature or value their own potential. For those who have seen other media talking about these subjects or in general have a basic understanding of them, Bigger Than Us is a passable yet ultimately basic project that doesn't have quite enough of a bite to warrant a full recommendation.
