APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS: 3 ½ STARS. “universal tale of democracy vs. theology.”
SYNOPSIS: Six years ago Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa detailed her country’s unstable political climate in her Oscar-nominated documentary “The Edge of Democracy.” She returns to selected theatres on July 12 and Netflix on July 14, with “Apocalypse in the Tropics,” a film that asks, “When does a democracy end, and a theocracy begin?”
REVIEW: In its exploration of the rise of evangelical Christianity’s influence on Brazilian politics, “Apocalypse in the Tropics” continues the story begun in director Petra Costa’s Oscar nominated documentary “The Edge of Democracy.”
Costa, who also does the film’s firsthand narration, paints a vivid picture of 2019 Brazil, as a country bedevilled by economic and social turmoil. 30% of the population identify as evangelical, and televangelists, like Silas “exercise your faith” Malafaia hold great sway.
A popular Pentecostal figure, Malafaia’s embrace of far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro, whose platform opposed same-sex marriage, abortion, affirmative action, drug liberalization, and secularism, helped push the controversial and polarizing politician to the country’s top office in 2019.
His presidency brought with it a shift away from democracy to a government whose policies leaned toward theocratic ideology. Costa’s access to Bolsonaro, Malafaia and current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, provides and unflinching account of the political upheaval that followed the blurring of the line between church and state.
Laser focussed on the evangelical movement, Costa provides an impassioned cry for democracy but gives short shrift to other political moments in favor of Bolsonaro and Malafaia’s zealous biblical ideology.
Integrating the apocalyptic visions of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel paintings, she visualizes Bolsonaro and Malafaia’s fiery, hell and brimstone rhetoric in striking fashion. It occasionally feels over-the-top, but as the movie contextualizes the imagery with archival news footage of Bolsonaro’s supporters storming federal government buildings, the inclusion of the nightmarish paintings becomes justified.
“Apocalypse in the Tropics” suffers from dodgy dubbing from Portuguese to English, but in its specific story of Brazil’s recent past it becomes a chilling, universal and caurionary tale of democracy vs. theocracy.
