Evangelicalism Pervades Politics in First Trailer for Petra Costa’s Apocalypse in the Tropics

Even more frighteningly relevant than when I first saw it at the New York Film Festival last fall, prior to the new wave of Trump-fronted fascism, Petra Costa’s Apocalypse in the Tropics lucidly explores how evangelical Christianity is inseparable from Brazil’s far-right political movement. The latest documentary from the Elena and The Edge of Democracy will now come to DOC NYC Summer Selects on July 9 before releasing globally on Netflix on July 14. Ahead of the debut, the first trailer has arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “When does a democracy end, and theocracy begin? Apocalypse in the Tropics investigates the increasingly powerful grip that evangelical Christian leaders hold over politics in Brazil. Weaving together past and present, the film holds a mirror up to the rest of the world.”

Luke Hicks said in his review, “Five years, the closest presidential election in Brazilian history, and one insurrection after her last examination of Brazil’s tumultuous socio-political sphere, Petra Costa––the brilliant documentarian behind Elena and The Edge of Democracy––hones in on Jair Bolsonaro, the radical evangelical right that won him the presidency in 2018, and the theocracy they collectively fight to instate. With Costa’s nearly unfettered access to the main characters of modern Brazilian politics, the events of Apocalypse in the Tropics practically unfold in real time––a thrilling, profound documentary horror.”

See the trailer below.