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Apocalypse in the Tropics

2024 1h 50m Documentary History List
Tomatometer 4 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
When does a democracy end, and a theocracy begin? In APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS, Petra Costa investigates the increasingly powerful grip that faith leaders hold over politics in Brazil. Costa gains extraordinary access to the country's top political leaders, including President Lula, and former President Bolsonaro, as well as to Brazil's most famous televangelist: a larger-than-life pastor who seems to play puppet master to the latter. As the film unveils the key role the evangelical movement has played in Brazil's recent political turmoil, it also reveals the apocalyptic theology that drives its chief protagonists. As in her Academy-Award® nominated THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, Costa documents a time of profound confusion and despair with lucidity and a poetic eye. Weaving past and present, she immerses us in the contradictory realities of a young democracy that is hanging on by a thread, and in doing so holds up a mirror to the rest of the world.

Critics Reviews

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Guilherme Jacobs indieWire This approach, combined with [Petra Costa's] vague and poetic monologue, turns democracy into a story of powerful men versus powerful men, and not one belonging to the people she claims to care so much about. Rated: C Aug 29, 2024 Full Review Jordan Mintzer Hollywood Reporter What makes Tropics so riveting is the way Costa constantly shifts between the epic and the intimate, the macro and the micro. Aug 29, 2024 Full Review Jonathan Romney Screen International Given a distinct personal edge by Costa’s own measured commentary, this is an important study that is bound to attract politically curious audiences. Aug 29, 2024 Full Review Chris Barsanti The Playlist Narrating with a tone of quiet gravity, Costa infuses her film with a bookish spirit that leavens its more pulse-pounding elements. Rated: A- Aug 31, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

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Movie Info

Synopsis When does a democracy end, and a theocracy begin? In APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS, Petra Costa investigates the increasingly powerful grip that faith leaders hold over politics in Brazil. Costa gains extraordinary access to the country's top political leaders, including President Lula, and former President Bolsonaro, as well as to Brazil's most famous televangelist: a larger-than-life pastor who seems to play puppet master to the latter. As the film unveils the key role the evangelical movement has played in Brazil's recent political turmoil, it also reveals the apocalyptic theology that drives its chief protagonists. As in her Academy-Award® nominated THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, Costa documents a time of profound confusion and despair with lucidity and a poetic eye. Weaving past and present, she immerses us in the contradictory realities of a young democracy that is hanging on by a thread, and in doing so holds up a mirror to the rest of the world.
Director
Petra Costa
Producer
Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino
Screenwriter
Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino, Nels Bangerter, David Barker
Production Co
Busca Vida Filmes, Peri Productions
Genre
Documentary, History
Original Language
Brazilian Portuguese
Runtime
1h 50m