Daniel Goldhaber's buzzy new film—think Ocean's Eleven meets eco-activism—is a downright unforgettable experience that might just inspire you to destroy some property.
By Max CeaPUBLISHED: APR 7, 2023
Andreas Malm’s 2021 eco-activism manifesto, How to
Blow Up a Pipeline, isn’t an obvious choice for a
cinematic adaptation.
The book… makes the case for acts of strategic
property destruction as a response to the climate crisis.
But when director Daniel Goldhaber (whose debut
feature, Cam, was a psychological, camgirl-centered
horror film) read the book..he saw a contemporary
Ocean’s 11, a modern Reservoir Dogs, a high octane,
heist-style thriller. The fundamental differenCE
between this movie and those past flicks, though, is
the fossil fuel infrastructure.
Oh, and there was one other difference, too:
If Goldhaber did his job and made his adaptation
irresistibly cool… he believed he could help
“shift the cultural narrative around climate tactics.”
To push back on the taboos around the actions
Malm argues are necessary to prevent all-out
disaster. To broaden sympathetic audiences’
horizons regarding what activism might look like.
Whether Goldhaber’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline
, out today, will accomplish those lofty goals is yet
to be determined. But as a film?
Well, let us be scientific: It slaps.
Climate diplomacy is hopeless, says
author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Andreas Malm says he has no hope in ‘dominant classes’, and urges more radical approach to climate activism.
Malm at the How to Blow Up a Pipeline premiere
during the 2022 Toronto international film festival. Getty Image
