Benedict Cumberbatch is dreading the simple act of stepping outside as he promotes his new documentary, How to Live on Earth. Speaking from an air-conditioned hotel room in Soho amid a summer of exceptional heat, the actor frames the film as a response to mounting environmental pressures. The production brings together contributors with varied backgrounds to examine practical ways societies might reduce harm and restore damaged ecosystems.
The film’s contributors include researchers and practitioners drawn from disparate regions, including Alaska and the Amazon, and a range of specialists from culinary figures tied to high-profile households to activists focused on large carnivores. Its scope moves from issues such as illicit ivory and the trade in elephant tusks to questions about hunting, food systems and the choices that affect biodiversity and rural livelihoods.
Producers place the documentary in the context of recent extreme weather and its human toll. Officials have linked record temperatures to stresses on agriculture, water supplies and public health; a report from the Met Office estimated around 2,700 excess deaths in England and Wales during May and June heatwaves. Cumberbatch describes the timing as stark: the scenes depicted in the film, he says, are unfolding in real time for many communities.
The project also confronts skepticism about climate science and policy, presenting voices that counter denial with on-the-ground observations and proposed interventions rather than polemic. On tour to introduce the film, the team highlights case studies and expert testimony intended to inform public discussion and policy makers. By collating regional examples and practical proposals, the documentary seeks to map a range of responses aimed at reducing extraction pressures and aiding ecosystem recovery without offering prescriptive solutions beyond those evidenced by contributors.
