As human-caused environmental catastrophes become too destructive, spacecraft with colonists leave Earth for Mars. One of these spacecraft goes off course and the captain must inform the passengers that instead of three weeks, the journey will last two years. There are many forms of entertainment on board, such as MIMA, a virtual-reality experience that immerses the user in a version of their own memories of Earth. It eventually becomes clear that the passengers will never reach their destination, a fact that becomes psychologically unbearable for many. The situation only becomes worse when MIMA decides to self-destruct rather than provide support for a species that has destroyed its own planet. Years pass…

“Aniara” is the title of a cycle of poems written by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson in 1956. The film’s directors felt the urge to recreate the work on film due to the many current environmental processes eliciting a sense of the apocalyptic. Unusual for the science fiction genre is the casting of women as the main protagonists in the film. To both increase the film’s claustrophobic effect and encourage contemplating the future of humanity, the Göteborg Film Festival gave the public the option to view the film in a custom-made sarcophagus equipped with a screen, speakers, ventilation, and a panic button.