Mighty Indeed.  A chilling triumph of science, sisterhood, and survival. ★★★★½ (4.5/5 stars).

Tickets Available HERE

From Doc Edge Film Festival 2025

In Mighty Indeed, director Vanessa Wells plunges us beneath the frozen surface of Antarctica—and into the minds and hearts of three extraordinary women scientists—delivering a rare documentary that is as visually breathtaking as it is emotionally resonant.

This isn’t just a film about sea ice and scientific discovery. It’s a story of grit, glory, and the indomitable human spirit carved into the coldest corners of the planet.

Set against the stark, alien beauty of McMurdo Sound, Mighty Indeed (formerly known as Climate Canary) follows Dr Natalie Robinson, an intrepid expedition leader, as she helms a world-first dive into the sub-ice wilderness in search of microscopic lifeforms.

She’s joined by Jacqui Stuart, a first-time explorer whose wide-eyed wonder is infectious, and remotely mentored by Professor Pat Langhorne, a sea-ice pioneer whose decades of knowledge lend gravitas and quiet wisdom to the team.

It’s a ferocious and frozen wilderness, Mighty Indeed goes deep on the microscopic phytoplankton, the tiny powerhouses of Earth’s oxygen supply.

Through arresting imagery and smart interviews, Wells and her crew remind us that the fate of the planet hinges on these drifting drifters.

The punchline? Climate change is a physics problem, and some argue AI will eventually solve it.

Until then, though, humans are still needed—though even the humans struggled, as the C300 cameras gave out at -40°C, alongside parts of the film crew. It’s science-meets-survival, with a lens fogged by frostbite and awe.

What makes this film truly soar isn’t just the jaw-dropping cinematography, though it’s impossible to overstate the icy grandeur that DOP Adam Jones captures with surgical precision.

It’s the intimacy.

Wells masterfully weaves archival footage, confessional interviews, and unflinching on-site documentation into a human drama worthy of any Oscar-season biopic.

These women aren’t just scientists. They’re adventurers, mentors, mothers, and modern-day heroes.

At a time when science is often sidelined and climate fatigue threatens to numb the soul, Mighty Indeed is a clarion call, in surround sound.

It’s the Free Solo of polar research, the Hidden Figures of cryobiology—and dare I say, it has more emotional weight than many scripted dramas.

Wells gives us more than a documentary—she gives us role models. Women who brave whiteouts, logistical nightmares, and institutional barriers not just to survive, but to change the world.

Mighty Indeed is mighty, indeed. A spellbinding, frostbitten adventure that honours science, celebrates women, and chills you to your core. In all the right ways.

Paul Marshall

Now playing at Doc Edge Festival around New Zealand. Tickets Available HERE