Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
On Quartile, Before the Flood scores 8/10 across five categories — strongest on Cinematography (Well Above Average), weakest on Plot (Above Average).
Ranked among Quartile’s Top Cinematography.
A look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do to prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems, and native communities across the planet.
Before the Flood is a visually striking climate documentary anchored by Leonardo DiCaprio's global journey, with Fisher Stevens delivering some genuinely arresting cinematography of melting glaciers, deforested landscapes, and industrial sprawl. However, the documentary largely treads familiar ground for the genre — celebrity-fronted environmental advocacy with expert interviews and disaster imagery — offering little that distinguishes it from An Inconvenient Truth or similar works. DiCaprio is earnest but not a particularly compelling on-screen presence as an interviewer, and the film's conclusion, while emotionally sincere, feels somewhat predictable and prescriptive rather than revelatory. Its strength lies more in its visual production values and the access it affords than in any novel framing of the climate crisis.