Movie · 2006 · Documentary · 1h 40m · PG · English
Curator score: 5.9/10 (112K ratings)
By far the most terrifying film you will ever see.
Overview
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.9/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.51/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Metacritic: 75
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Davis Guggenheim
Production
Lawrence Bender Productions, Participant
Cast
Al Gore, Billy West, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush
Curator Review
Verdict
An Inconvenient Truth is an earnest, influential climate-change documentary that works best as a historical artifact and a clear-eyed advocacy piece. It is less compelling as cinema than as a public lecture, but its urgency and accessibility still make it worthwhile if you want the issue framed plainly and persuasively.
Best for
viewers interested in climate change and environmental policy
people curious about a landmark 2000s issue documentary
audiences who don't mind a lecture-style presentation
students or classrooms needing a straightforward primer
Skip if
you want a visually dynamic or formally inventive documentary
you are already well-versed in climate science
you dislike presentation-driven nonfiction films
you prefer character-led stories over advocacy filmmaking
Overview
An Inconvenient Truth is less a movie than a civic intervention, built around the clarity and persistence of a single message. Its power comes from how plainly it translates climate science into something legible for a mass audience, with Al Gore serving as a calm, determined guide through the evidence.
Worth noting
As cinema, it can feel stiff and overstructured, with the lecture format stretched by biographical detours and a few awkward attempts at emotional texture. But the film’s plainness is also part of its effectiveness: it wants to persuade, not dazzle.
Bottom line
Seen now, it plays as both a time capsule and a warning that has only grown more urgent. If you’re looking for a polished documentary experience, this may feel dry; if you want a landmark piece of environmental advocacy, it remains hard to dismiss.
Top Letterboxd reviews
luke? (3.5★) · 386 likes
watched this in my environmental sciences class and I can't tell you how many times the teacher stopped the movie to say "ok so this was made in 2006, so it's definitely worse now"
Will Sloan · 144 likes
I assume we sorted all this out?
Be sure to drink lots of coffee so you can take lots of pee breaks during the long padding scenes of Al Gore looking mournful as he drives his car, or walking mournfully through airports, or gazing mournfully out of windows, etc.
Joel (2★) · 132 likes
"And the Academy Award for best powerpoint presentation goes to..."
Alice Stoehr (2★) · 105 likes
I remember this being a cultural lightning rod when it came out. (As a teenager in a "global warming is fake" household, I had no interest in seeing it then.) Catching up with it now, I'm guessing that resonance was thanks solely to the urgency of its subject matter. As a call to action, it's noble. But as a movie, it's a very solid pamphlet. Director Davis Guggenheim awkwardly tries to construct an issue advocacy doc out of two disparate… more I remember this being a cultural lightning rod when it came out. (As a teenager in a "global warming is fake" household, I had no interest in seeing it then.) Catching up with it now, I'm guessing that resonance was thanks solely to the urgency of its subject matter. As a call to action, it's noble. But as a movie, it's a very solid pamphlet. Director Davis Guggenheim awkwardly tries to construct an issue advocacy doc out of two disparate… more
Josh Gillam (3.5★) · 69 likes
I found An Inconvenient Truth a really interesting watch, bringing Al Gore’s attempts at highlighting the climate crisis to an even bigger audience.
Ultimately this is really just a filmed version of one of his presentations (with some extra supplementary features mixed in for good measure), but Gore’s earnest commitment to the topic helps shed light on a then-emergent concept in an accessible and palatable way, paring it all down into a show that wrangles new data with real life… more