With the announcement of a sequel planned for Christmas 2025, Christopher Nolan's cult film Interstellar returns to the forefront. But beyond its visual prowess, does the work really rest on solid scientific foundations? We answer you!
In 2014, the release ofInterstellar left its mark, not only for its spectacular special effects, but also for its ambition to mix science and fiction. Director Christopher Nolan surrounded himself with a luminary in the field of astrophysics, Kip Thornewith the aim of giving the film a rare realism for a work of science fiction in cinema. Several essential elements, studied in astrophysics, such as wormholes, black holes or even time dilation, were modeled in the feature film in collaboration with Thorne and his team. But if certain concepts are treated with impressive precisionothers relate more to the speculation. So what do scientists say about the accuracy of the phenomena depicted? Here's an overview of the scientific aspects of the film, with their strengths and weaknesses.
A black hole faithful to modern theories
Interstellar immerses viewers in the heart of space by tackling one of the most fascinating mysteries of the universe: black holes. The modeling of “Gargantua”, the central black hole of the film, based on scientific calculations provided by Kip Thorne. According to the Daily Mailthe special effects team used these equations to represent a black hole with never before achieved visual fidelity previously. This precision even allowed Thorne to publish scientific articles on the subjectshowing that a black hole's gravity can distort the surrounding disk of gas into a kind of spectacular halo. “We discovered that distorting the space around the black hole also distorted the accretion disk”explained Thorne to Universe Today. This realism has earned Interstellar the title of “the most accurate depiction of a black hole in the history of science fiction”. Impressive !
Wormholes: realistic or pure fiction?
Space travel in Interstellar rests on a wormhole which allows the crew to cross cosmic distances in an instant. Theoretically, a wormhole would connect two distant points in space-time. However, according to Professor Martin Barstow, president of the Royal Astronomical Societywormholes remain purely hypothetical objects. Questioned by the Daily Mailhe explains: “There is no evidence that such structures exist in the universe.” This concept brings a dramatic dimension to the film, creating a bridge between real science and Nolan's imagination. In this case, his representation of this concept had more to do with the rhythm and beauty of the storyline than with scientific accuracy. Lee Billings, a specialist in space science, points out, however, that while wormholes allow characters to cross galaxies instantly, more realistic means, such as solar sailswould better account for the current limitations of space travel.
Time dilation, a scientifically proven effect
One of the film's notable scenes shows the effects of time dilation, where the characters age much more slowly than those remaining on Earth due to their proximity to a black hole. This concept, theorized by Albert Einstein in his theory of relativity, has already been proven experimentally. As Professor Barstow explains at Daily Mail, “The closer we get to the speed of light, the slower time passes.”. This aspect of the film is scientifically credible, and astronauts who traveled to the Moon themselves aged slightly more slowly than those who remained on Earth, although imperceptibly. The fidelity of this representation has also been greeted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who considers this effect “extremely well done” in the film.
The limits of the representation of the planets
Another remarkable sequence ofInterstellarthe protagonists explore several supposedly habitable planets located around a black hole. But according to experts, this idea is unlikely. The astrophysicists cited by BFM TV explain that a planet placed at such a close distance from a black hole would be exposed to extreme gravitational forcesgenerating giant tides and deadly radiation. On the “tidal planet”, where water reaches only a few centimeters deep despite gigantic waves, the gravitational influence of a black hole would be so powerful that it would cause much more destructive effects. According to Lee Billings, this exaggeration of tidal effects certainly serves the narrative, but remains doubtful from a scientific point of view. We suspected it a little…
Can we survive inside a black hole?
In the film's breathtaking final sequence, where Cooper's character dive into a black holethe film shows a four-dimensional “tesseract”, allowing the astronaut to explore memories outside of space and time. This concept fascinated Kip Thorne from his childhood, but its realization in the film did not nothing scientific. In reality, approaching a black hole would cause immediate disintegration of a vessel due to gravitational tidal forces. Professor Barstow states thatno object could survive inside a black hole without being crushed by these intense forces. The tesseract, although it is a striking visual addition, therefore constitutes a poetic license to serve the scenario, and nothing more.
10 years after its release, Interstellar remains a unique model of collaboration between science and fiction, and Kip Thorne's involvement in the project made it possible to achieve rare realismparticularly with regard to the representation of black holes. While elements like wormholes, habitable planets near a black hole, and survival in a black hole are more fantasy – the film's success also lies in its ability to transform scientific concepts into precise visual elements and striking. It remains to be seen whether its sequel announced for Christmas 2025still directed by Christopher Nolan, will continue its efforts at scientific fidelity. Here, we have no doubts about it and we can't wait!
Sources :
- Universe Today, “The Physics Behind “Interstellar’s” Visual Effects Was So Good, it Led to a Scientific Discovery”published on October 23, 2014.
- International Mail, “Science. Interstellar, a film that is more science than fiction”published November 13, 2014, updated June 2, 2022.
- BFM TV, “Black hole, wormhole: is the film Interstellar scientifically accurate?”published November 5, 2014, updated November 12, 2014.
- Daily Mail, “Five Mistakes in Interstellar…and Where He's Right: Space Experts Reveal How Scientifically Accurate the Film Is”published November 10, 2014, updated May 18, 2015.
- Atlantic, “Interstellar, what scientific credibility? Experts' answers on Christopher Nolan's film”published on November 3, 2014.
- The New Observer, “Is Interstellar scientifically credible?”by Jean-Paul Fritz, published on November 3, 2014.
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