Aniara, 2018

November 14, 2022 | AJ RENZULLI

The main plot of this movie revolves around a large luxurious self-sufficient spaceship, the Aniara, leaving Earth, because it has been riddled with ozone depletion causing all life to suffer in many ways such as from skin deformities, to another already inhabited colony on Mars. However, the conflict occurs when there is unexpected astral debris that breaches the hull of the ship causing the nuclear reactor to be damaged, this forces the captain to issue orders to dump all the fuel in order to save the core from causing a massive meltdown. The debris caused the Aniara to be knocked off course from Mars and now that the ship has no fuel, it means that they have no agency in correcting its course. The Captain, Chefone, and resident Astronomer have the knowledge and wherewithal to understand that they are now floating away into the unknown of space and will perish as such. However, in order to not cause panic and dire depression amongst the passengers, the Captain lies saying that there is a chance to make it back to Mars in a few years by slingshotting around a planet close by using its gravitational pull to correct its course.

The movie focuses on a woman named Mimarobe, who works as the ship's main director of a room that houses Mima. Mima is a large vibrantly colored pulsating AI-like entity that entrances anyone in the room and allows them to be absorbed into a dream-like state that is filled with their most calming or best memory. The movie is broken up into significant events that occur over time, the first time skip puts us at “Week Three.” The passengers are informed of the possibility of finding an astral object that can save them but it could take up to 2 years to do so. This forces the Captain to push the passengers into eating the on board self-sufficient algae, which is not the Five Star Dining people hoped for on the trip, but it would be enough for everyone to survive. Then we jump to Year Three, at this time hope is hard to find for the passengers on the ship. This forces people to escape their pain by using Mima. However, this much stress on Mima, Mimarobe states Mima can read and retain everyone’s thoughts that have been in the room and used it as a way of relaxation, leaving it speaking in human voices - struggling to find the right words to voice its pain. Mima has been used as a sponge for three years consoling and absorbing all the pain that everyone on the ship has been through not only on the desolate Earth, but also on the Aniara. Mimarobe knows that Mima speaking and voicing its pain is a sign that it needs a break, which is why she goes to the Captain requesting at least a week off for rest and recuperation. However, the Captain states that they cannot let Mima dictate their habits and will go on as usual. The next day Mima being overwhelmed by all the people flooding in, starts saying “My conscious aches for the stones, I’ve heard them cry their stonely cries seen the granite's white-hot weeping. I have been troubled by their pains. In the name of Things, I want peace. I will be done with my displays. There is protection from nearly everything, but there is no protection from mankind. Prolonging the very second when you burst. How terror blasts in, how horror blasts out. How grim it always is, one’s detonation.” At that moment, Mima self-destructs from the pain endured after non stop overuse for three years. After the suicide of Mima, Mimarobe is blamed for its destruction. Isagel, when hearing about the Captain framing Mimarobe, becomes enraged and knees him in the groin. Both Mimarobe and Isagel are imprisoned.

By the fourth year, nicknamed Cults, there has been a growing sense and need for the passengers to believe and take part in something above themselves. After multiple suicides of desperate passengers, Mimarobe and Isagel, who are now intimate lovers, are granted releases and reassigned to work. They both decide to join a fertility cult that is dedicated and pays tribute to Mima, the ceremony involves an orgy that occurs in the room Mima resided in. However, Isagel becomes extremely depressed as she is now pregnant from the orgy that occured. Once the child is born Mimarobe is ecstatic, but Isagel sees this moment as a travesty for putting an innocent child into a world of pain and truly thinks about ending her own baby’s life just after they are born. Mimarobe has the idea to build a screen to project an image on the outside of the ship to help Isagel with her depression and hopefully remind people of the good things Mima brought them. The Captain denies her idea and instead urges her to teach her students in the hopes that one day they may figure out a way to get them back to Mars.

By the fifth year, the Astronomer and Isagel discover a rescue probe approaching them, which they hope and pray contains any fuel to correct their course. The probe will take over a year to reach them, but it gives the passengers all hope and something to keep living for. When the probe reaches the Aniara and it is taken onto the ship, everyone quickly realizes that they are completely lost in identifying it, where it’s from, or even what it contains. The Captain is persistent on keeping the crew working on the probe, but everyone gives up hope on the rescue. The Astronomer tells all the passengers how grim their lives truly are, stating that the Aniara is more akin to a sarcophagus that will house everyone’s deceased bodies. The Captain trying to prevent the passengers from completely losing hope, tases the Astronomer in rage, this ends up being fatal.

Mimarobe decides to begin working on her projection idea, which eventually succeeds and she is able to project a waterfall scene onto the windows of the Aniara. However, when basking in her success, she learns that Isagel had commited infantcide on the child they were both raising and then committed suicide, because she found out that the algae everyone relied on for food had been soiled. After another five years pass, the film shows the very few remaining crew members celebrating the 10th anniversary of Aniara's journey through space. Mimarobe accepts an honorary award from the Captain for the creation of the images on the windows of the spaceship, while accepting the award she notices the bandages on the Captains wrists suggesting he had attempted suicide. Year 24 of Aniara's voyage, we focus on the last remaining passengers, Mimarobe included, in a dark room, one of which is singing hymns towards and about the Sun. The movie ends on, Year 5,981,407 of the voyage. The Aniara, which is looking decrepit and devoid of any survivors, finally reaches its first star, GM-54, along its journey. A planet in the star’s solar system, looking as flourishing and verdurous as Earth was, starts to pull the Aniara into its orbit.

I believe that this Sci-Fi movie can be related to many different ethical codes, such as Kantian Ethics or Care Ethics. However, I believe that the best related link will be through Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism has its basis on choosing the action that provides the most amount of people with the most amount of happiness. This ethical code was started by Jeremey Bentham and later added on by John Staurt Mill and his wife Harriet Taylor Mill. This idea of happiness is very hedonistic, but Utilitarianism’s shortcomings happen when deciding what kind of happiness is best, a small amount of happiness for a long time or a large amount of happiness in a very short time. However, Utilitarianism's foundation relies upon treating everyone's happiness as equal and not seeing a specific person’s or group of people as above anyone else’s.

Utilitarianism can be directly related to the movie Aniara through the Captain’s choice of lying and changing the narrative in order to soothe the passengers and not put them into a panic. There are a few examples of this. The first occurred at the beginning of the movie where the Captain lied about the likelihood of finding a celestial body only taking two years. The Captain also lies to all the passengers about Mimarobe being the one that killed Mima, saying that she wanted Mima all to herself. He rationalizes these instances by not wanting everyone to immediately lose hope, make it easier for everyone to carry on, and deflect the blame off of himself. There is also an overarching element of Utilitarianism through the use and abuse of Mima itself. The captain would rather appease everyone, and not listen to Mimarobe’s conversation about how desperate and grim Mima feels, than risk losing the happiness Mima brings for even a week. This is exemplary of how the Captain believes the happiness and moral of all the passengers is most important.

Additional Resources

Online Articles

“Aniara (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Sept. 2022

Driver, Julia. “The History of Utilitarianism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 22 Sept. 2014

Kenny, Glenn. “Aniara Movie Review & Film Summary (2019): Roger Ebert.” Movie Review & Film Summary (2019) | Roger Ebert

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