The White House Effect

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The White House Effect

2024

1h 36m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

94%

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16 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Exploring the dramatic origin story of the climate crisis and how a political battle in the George H.W. Bush administration changed the course of history.

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Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (LAist)

An interesting case history in flubs.

Nov 10, 2025

Full Review

Alissa Wilkinson

New York Times

It’s not easy to make an archival documentary... But “The White House Effect” is a good example of why it’s worth it, and why it’s worth preserving our archives, too.

Oct 31, 2025

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Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

The film meticulously yet concisely probes how, why, and when our understanding of the greenhouse effect went from a scientific certainty to it being up for debate.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 26, 2025

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Alex Southey

That Shelf

If one seeks a fact-based, thorough, yet darkly thrilling and convincing walk-through of the history of the climate crisis, The White House Effect is it.

Nov 25, 2025

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Stephen Silver

The SS Ben Hecht

I was certainly not expecting a documentary this year about the behind-the-scenes intrigue of the George H.W. Bush White House, and how the wrong side won that dispute and it had terrible consequences for humanity.

Nov 8, 2025

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Jennifer Green

Common Sense Media

This documentary manages to instill a sense of urgency by fixing the climate crisis in a recent historical period where humanity should have, but failed, to make meaningful changes.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 4, 2025

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Louis L

Interesting angle on the climate crisis, and I learned things. Worth a watch if you’re already bought into human caused climate change. The way the film is constructed asks more from audiences than your typical documentary. There’s no narration, and we don’t hear the story from any one’s point of view, so it’s easy to get lost unless you’re listening (and reading, in many cases) very closely, and actively trying to make connections.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/16/25

Full Review

Laura T

As a long-time climate change educator, this film helps students (and all of us!) ground the climate change problem with historical context. The images are powerful and allow the story of science vs. politics to evolve in front of our eyes as the issue of climate change got hijacked by the oil industry despite the best efforts of many.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/13/25

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Bonni Cohen

Director

Pedro Kos

Director

Jon Shenk

Director

Bonni Cohen

Writer

Pedro Kos

Writer

Jon Shenk

Writer

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Synopsis

Exploring the dramatic origin story of the climate crisis and how a political battle in the George H.W. Bush administration changed the course of history.

Director: Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, Jon Shenk
Producer: Bonni Cohen, Justine Nagan, Josh Penn, Jon Shenk, Noah Stahl
Screenwriter: Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, Jon Shenk
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation, Cinereach, Caldwell Fisher Family Foundation, Plot Shift Media, Department of Motion Pictures, Far Star Media, Actual Films, Impact Partners, Walking Softer, 2 Sq Ft
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 31, 2025
Runtime: 1h 36m

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