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Short abstract

Cinematic translation is used to challenge techno‑utopian fusion futures. By creating a speculative film concept, the work shifts focus from technological inevitability to alternative social and ethical imaginaries, broadening participation in envisioning energy futures.

Long abstract

Techno‑solutionist speculation has long shaped imaginaries of energy futures. Successive “new” energy resources—petroleum, nuclear fission, photovoltaics, ocean wave power—have repeatedly been framed as “ultimate” or “unlimited,” with nuclear fusion receiving prominence in ecomodernist visions of abundant, concentrated power (cf. Turrell, 2021). Such narratives persist because technological promises mobilise political and economic resources through an “option–promise–requirement–necessity” sequence (van Lente & Rip, 1998). Public institutions and private startups similarly advance speculative “energy futures” (Ngo & Natowitz, 2016) to justify continued investment (Brown et al., 2000), relying on an assumed link between energy supply and prosperity. Within this frame, fusion becomes techno‑utopian, envisioned as replacing all existing energy sources (Sadik‑Zada et al., 2024) and even “saving civilisation” (Manheimer, 2006). These framings limit critical engagement by prioritising technological growth over alternative social futures, leaving the materiality of energy systems unexplored (Kester, 2018). To develop alternative imaginaries, the authors employ cinematic translation as a method bridging STS and design. Drawing on fusion research and methodological work on cinematic translation (Miller, 2026), they create a speculative cosmic‑horror movie concept titled Matter, taking the form of a movie concept pitch presentation. The approach builds on work undertaken within STS concerning cinema’s role in shaping technoscience (Kirby, 2011), and practices of speculative design that draw on aspects of moviemaking (Bleecker, 2009; Dunne & Raby, 2013; Burnham-Fink, 2015; Candy & Dunagan, 2017). The paper argues that cinematic translation offers a distinctive STS alternativity by disrupting analytic conventions, widening participation, and stabilising alternative futures through narrative and visual form.