The Science of Interstellar

The documentary is about the science behind Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. The film's consultant was the physicist Kip Thorne, and most of the visuals were produced using his equations; the image of the black hole is therefore not a design but the result of a calculation. Wormholes, relativity, and how time slows under gravity are each explained in turn. The search for habitable planets and the possibility of settling Mars are discussed too. Matthew McConaughey narrates. Among those who speak are Kip Thorne, Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan and the producer Emma Thomas; the planet-hunting astronomer Natalie Batalha speaks as well. The documentary also takes on the film's dust storms and compares them with the real drought America went through in the thirties. Fifty-one minutes. Gail Willumsen directed. Less a making-of than an account of how far a film can lean on science.