A beautiful movie about the end of the world. The story revolves around two sisters during and shortly after the wedding party of one of them, while Earth is about to collide with an approaching rogue planet Melancholia.

Amid some controversy regarding director Lars von Trier at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, Kirsten Dunst received the festival’s Best Actress Award for her performance.

» Check out the movie’s website.

The idea for the movie apparently was fueled by a therapist who had told Lars von Trier that depressive people tend to act more calmly than others under heavy pressure, because they already expect bad things to happen. He then developed the story not primarily as a disaster film but as a way to examine the human psyche during a disaster. Will have a look around what scientists have to say about this…

This raises an interesting question: how do you think you would react when facing a (future) disaster?