Captain Chefone promises the passengers and crew that they will be able to resume the trip to Mars once the ship passes a celestial body, which should happen in no more than two years.
The Mimarobe wants to build a "beam-screen", a projection device acting as a mimic of Mima to alleviate Isagel's and the other passengers' depression, but Captain Chefone forbids her from doing so.
In the fifth year, Isagel and the astronomer discover that a probe large enough to feasibly contain fuel is travelling towards the Aniara, meaning that a rescue is possibly being attempted.
The Astronomer laments that their ship is a sarcophagus, defying Captain Chefone's orders for the crew to keep a united front to prevent the passengers from losing hope.
While listlessly accepting an honorary medal from Captain Chefone for her creation of the beam-screen, the Mimarobe notices that his wrists are bandaged from a presumed suicide attempt.
An unidentified woman in the group rhapsodizes about the divine power of sunlight on Earth, as the ship slowly descends into final darkness.
Finally, in year 5,981,407 of its voyage, the Aniara – derelict, frozen and devoid of human life – reaches the Lyra constellation and approaches a planet as verdant and welcoming as Earth was formerly.
The website's critics consensus reads: "Dazzling, but a little dull, ANIARA's impeccable production design is undermined by its underwhelming philosophical pondering.
[6] The Guardian, in two reviews, gave the film four stars, calling it a "stunning sci-fi eco parable" and an "eerily mesmerising outer-space odyssey" respectively.