LOGLINE: A woman-led team makes the final scientific expedition to Antarctica’s “Doomsday Glacier” before it collapses into the sea.

SYNOPSIS: PLANET A joins seven scientists – six women and one man – as they make a final journey to the ice shelf of Thwaites, commonly referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier" because it holds back several feet of sea level rise.

The film follows the team over the course of one month in the brutal environment of Antarctica. Theirs is an alien world of snow, ice, and wind; where the sun never sets, and the nearest civilization is thousands of miles away. There, the scientists study the unseen world beneath the ice shelf. Through the use of radar and other data-collection methods, they try to understand the ominous cracks forming beneath the ice, which are jutting toward their camp with alarming and increasing speed. The campsite itself is in jeopardy: it drifts about 5 feet per day out towards the sea putting the scientists in a literal race against time. This drift is tracked by text on screen, detailing this imperceptible threat. 

Narrated primarily by the journals of Naomi Ochwat, a PhD student visiting Antarctica for the first time, this observational film opens with sprawling scenes of the team landing on the ice shelf by twin-otter plane and frantically setting up tents in a hellish, Arctic windstorm. Naomi reads from her journal about “drop shock,” the term the scientists use to refer to the feeling of being left alone on a piece of ice at the edge of the world. 

Soon, the team sets up camp and goes to work. Dr. Erin Pettit, a glaciologist and the team’s leader, drags a radar across the ice by foot. Cece Mortenson, a mountaineer sent to protect the researchers, marks crevasses that could pose danger and trains the younger scientists on how to survive the grueling elements and dangerous landscape.

“No one’s ever witnessed an ice shelf collapse,” Naomi says.

For the final part of their mission, the team needs to leave behind a communications tower to document the ice shelf as it finally breaks apart and falls into the sea. Christian Wild leads the group in erecting the tower, but things do not go as planned. After several attempts, the team finally raises the tower only to find the circuitry isn’t working. Through violent windstorms, Christian is forced to climb the tower time and time again. Although it is dangerous, it is vital that the tower can communicate with the team after they depart. The operational malfunctions weaken the morale of the team. But, on the last day of the mission, just when all hope is nearly lost, Christian climbs the towner and exclaims: “Green light!” Elated and relieved, the team celebrates their final accomplishment before they leave the frozen wasteland. 

Naomi reads from her journal, narrating the film’s final moments as the team loads into a small plane and soars high above the ice shelf. As they gaze down upon the vanishing terrain below, Naomi reflects on being the last people to set foot on this place. The disappearance of this “Doomsday Glacier” is a global event that will affect all of us, but on a personal scale, Naomi grounds the issue by thinking of her grandmother’s house in Florida and the impact it will have on her family. While the future is unknown, it is certain that this ice shelf will collapse into the sea.

The final image of the film is a satellite rendering of the ice shelf slowly breaking away. The film, meanwhile, casts these events in light of the team's agency. They are doing their part to help understand shifts so much bigger than any one of us. They refuse to give up. Their story of collective action will inspire people around the world.