Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World

Composed, noble and living up to its subject’s wishes to focus on the facts, Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World was a demand for change, not a cry for help. At its centre was a young woman on a mission to save us all.

Not only does Greta Thunbrerg: A Year To Change The World reinforce the young activist’s forceful language about climate change, it shows some glimpses into her motivation and drive, as well.

That’s the overall effect the series will have, unless you’re a confirmed Greta hater: pessimism for our future tempered by admiration, if not awe, for her preternatural poise, her tirelessness and her courage. The contrast of her seeming detachment and an evident, almost painful depth of emotion, intimately seen in the documentary, is moving.

Effectively an act of worship: a televisual version of a medieval cathedral, a monument to our new religion of environmentalism, constructed with impressive craftsmanship and soaring ambition, and dedicated to its patron saint, Greta. The film is thus predictable, but still awesome. ... Greta’s critics often say to her that she will grow up one day, but the film reminds us that this young woman is already self-possessed far beyond her years.

Thunberg has her head screwed on and what the first episode of this series showed, without doubt, is that she does not enjoy the limelight. Her crusade to get governments across the world to take climate change seriously is not about personal adulation or fame. In fact, there were moments here where she seemed to be hating everything about it.