Sundance ‘26: ‘THE LAKE’ is a Dire Warning of an Impending Environmental Meltdown

You may have heard the headlines before: without immediate intervention, an “environmental nuclear bomb” is set to go off in the Western USA, in Utah. The Lake, an urgent, fact-filled documentary from Utah-native and first-time feature documentarian Abby Ellis, starts by providing an alarming statistic: over half of the water in the Great Salt Lake is diverted for human use. Utah is the second driest state in the country but has the second highest water use per capita, mostly for agriculture. Without direct intervention and scaling back of human water use, that bomb is set to go off. And soon. Scientists Ben Abbott and Bonnie Baxter publicly report that without immediate change, the lake has five years before total collapse.

Everyone is aware of the problem but no one is in a rush to fix it, kicking the can of a solution further and further down the road. Meanwhile, elected officials don’t sense the urgency. They claim that fears are overblown. That farmers’ livelihoods should not be interrupted. This means that the scientists are forced to work directly with farmers to come up with a plan that minimizes water use while still growing enough to keep themselves above water.

The science-minded subjects of The Lake are then put in the absurd position of having to choose whether to be scientists or activists, as if being both at once somehow invalidates their work. When science slips into advocacy, it’s seen as biased, which is kind of insane. As if the people who know the most about a subject shouldn’t be the ones most strongly advocating for a fix for it. One key issue surrounding the entire issue is the importance of faith in all of this. Politicians openly pray for rain. Farmers expect that once it gets dire enough, He will step in and fix things: If God wants the lake to be filled, He will fill it. This is not only a lame excuse but one that assures that conditions only get worse.

Some of the current effects include 800+ miles of exposed lake bed that cause massive toxic dust plumes and the spread of poisonous minerals. Demands increase as populations increase, meanwhile climate-change-caused warming weather means less water anyways. Soon local high-demand crops — alfalfa, corn, onion — will be affected. Though many don’t want to face the tough financial reality of what an ecological transition means, that’s the only way out of this mess. If not just for the current Utah citizens, then for the next generation. Ecologist Ben Abbott has three young kids and there’s nothing that makes you think more about the future than your own progeny.

Ellis never lets the lake become just a symbol, it’s anchored in the lives of the people who depend on it. As she puts it, “we breathe the dust the lakebed leaves behind. My children will inherit the consequences of what is, or isn’t done to save this place.” That proximity — physical, emotional, generational — is what makes The Lake so dire. The bad scenario is not simply theoretical. It’s already knocking at the door.

Taken as a film though, The Lake is undeniably niche and didactic, lacking much in the way of broad entertainment value. It’s not a knock on its purpose — it’s clearly not trying to entertain — but the result can be dry, even dull at times. This isn’t a cinematic thrill ride; it’s a sober, slow-moving presentation. Still, for those looking to better understand this specific issue and the lived reality of its impact, The Lake delivers a clear-eyed and necessary perspective.

CONCLUSION: Utah-native Abby Ellis makes an urgent plea for environmental intervention in ‘The Lake’, a science-driven documentary that convincingly makes its case. Just don’t expect to feel good about any of it.