A solar flare tears across the sky and in a blinding instant, every memory on Earth is gone. Civilization collapses overnight as governments scramble to seize control of a population reduced to instinct. Power vacuums ignite. New regimes rise.
Thalía wakes in the wreckage with nothing but a scar etched into her skin and a conviction that defies logic: somewhere in this erased world, her daughter is alive. She has no proof. No memory of the child. No memory of herself. But the certainty burns.
Borealis is another exemplary find by the programming team at Cinequest. With minimal special effects, it tells a chilling and thought provoking story of a world where everyone is fundamentally changed in an instant.
The otherworldly aspects of the story are told in a few minutes, and the core story is about the very human survivors. So many apocalyptical tales begin in such a manner, but few are as insightfully personal as Borealis.
In the aftermath of a celestial event, the world’s population is left with no memory of who they are, what they were, or who they may have known. And no one is coming to “save” anyone, because this is apparently the new state of the world.
We focus on a small group of survivors, all awakening to this new reality. They scramble for clues in their own pockets and things nearby, but the answers there are of course incomplete and unsatisfying. Is the man in the police uniform a trustworthy public servant, or perhaps a monster in his own way. And the man with the bloodied hands and tattoos, is he an escaped criminal or just a victim himself.
Good science fiction is not limited to dealing with future technology, flashy special effects or alien makeup. The best of it focuses the human experience into distinct elements that the storyteller can manipulate and examine to expose more about the human condition. This is exactly the kind of high concept storytelling that raises the genre above simple rocket ships and ray guns.
To be sure, Borealis is an exciting story with a lot of action and conflict. But it’s also a story about understanding what creates a person, a personality, and their individuality. This is the nature Vs nurture argument stripped down to its essentials.
Here we can watch each person’s growth on a case-by-case basis. Is the man in the police uniform naturally a power-hungry authoritarian, or is he that way just because he has the only gun? Why is the thuggish-looking guy the voice of reason? And why is the drug-addicted woman so concerned about finding the girl who may or may not be her child? Motivations and conflict becomes much more complex when the players can’t explain, even to themselves, why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Borealis lets us watch the “newborn” survivors as they test each other, try to gain strength and develop community, and deal with betrayal and manipulation along the way. It gives us plenty to ponder; how experience, memory, and our environment all contribute our individual beings. Are we prisoners of our past, or can we create something better if it is stripped away? You may not find the answers here, but you will find new ways to think about it.
Highly recommended.
Showings
Fri, Mar 13 7:15 PM Hammer Theater Center, San Jose
Wed, Mar 18 4:50 PM Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (Screen 1), Mtn View
Sun, Mar 22 4:30 PM Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (Screen 2), Mtn View
For Trailers and Ticket Information
Ric Bretschneider
March 12, 2026
San Jose CA