HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE | ©2023 Neon

Rating: R
Stars: Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, Irene Bedard
Writers: Ariela Barer & Jordan Sjol & Daniel Goldhaber, based on the book HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE by Andreas Malm
Director: Daniel Goldhaber
Distributor: Neon
Release Date: April 7, 2023

As the saying goes, no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. In HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE, inspired by Andreas Malm’s nonfiction book, eight people come together to perform the title action.

The film HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE has several components. One is flashbacks to how each of the characters decided this was the best course of action. Another is a debate – rather one-sided here – as to whether committing such a drastic act really is the best course, and whether this counts as terrorism or extreme activism. Finally, there is the nitty-gritty of, well, how to blow up a pipeline.

Director Daniel Goldhaber and his co-scenarist Ariela Barer & Jordan Sjol are mindful that things like this don’t normally occur to people with something to lose. So, college student Xochitl (co-writer Barer) is coping poorly with the death of her mother. Xochi’s best friend Theo (Sasha Lane) has a rare but fatal blood disorder than can be tracked directly to pollution in the California neighborhood where they grew up.

We eventually learn the relevant histories of Theo’s girlfriend/Xochi’s pal Alisha (Jayme Lawson), partying couple Rowan (Kristine Froseth) and Logan (Lukas Gage), diligent Shawn (Marcus Scribner), nihilistic Michael (Forrest Goodluck), and rural Dwayne (Jake Weary), who prays over supper with his wife and daughter.

These are interspersed with the current action set in West Texas (per the credits, filmed in New Mexico) as the group of eight come together – some in person for the first time – and try to put their plan into motion.

Goldhaber gets very naturalistic performances from his mostly twenty-something cast, and stages sequences well. Co-writer Barer, Lane, and Goodluck are standouts among the strong performers.

The filmmakers get a fair amount of tension simply from the issues of whether the characters will succeed in their quest, and whether anyone will be harmed or killed in the attempt.

HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE does make the undeniable point that today’s young people are in real fear of having to live on an untenable planet in the foreseeable future, and that not enough is being done to address that fear. Exactly how invested audience members will be depends a lot on exactly how one views the characters – as righteous, as sincere but misguided, or as smug.

Without explicit spoilers, even viewers who are overall in sympathy with the message of HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE may notice that a lot of punches have been pulled by the finale. It seems like a few could have landed without obscuring what’s being said. An epilogue runs through the closing credits.

It’s refreshing to see an indie film shot on 16mm. In this, as well as its agitprop sentiments and something of its storytelling style, HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE is reminiscent of likeminded films of the ‘60s and ‘70s. For better or worse, it’s clearly the movie everyone involved intended to make. Then there’s the fact that they made this movie, instead of trying to blow up a pipeline, which speaks for itself.

Related: Movie Review: THE STRANGE CASE OF JACKY CAILLOU
Related: Movie Review: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES
Related: Movie Review: MALUM
Related: Movie Review: FOREST OF DEATH
Related: Movie Review: HYPNOTICA (aka UNHINGED)
Related: Movie Review: ADALYNN
Related: Movie Review: JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
Related: Movie Review: FOLLOWERS
Related: Movie Review: THE LOST KING
Related: Movie Review: MOVING ON
Related: Movie Review: SCREAM VI
Related: Movie Review: UNWELCOME
Related: Movie Review: SOUND OF SILENCE
Related: Movie Review: PUNCH
Related: Movie Review: CREED III
Related: Movie Review: CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2023)
Related: Movie Review: COCAINE BEAR
Related: Movie Review: LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN
Related: Movie Review: THE LONG DARK TRAIL
Related: Movie Review:THE QUIET GIRL (AN CAILÍN CIÚN)
Related: Movie Review: ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA
Related: Movie Review: PROJECT WOLF HUNTING (NEUGDAESANYANG)
Related: Movie Review: 88
Related: Movie Review: SHE CAME FROM THE WOODS
Related: Movie Review: HUSERA: THE BONE WOMAN
Related: Movie Review: THE OUTWATERS
Related: Movie Review: CONSECRATION
Related: Movie Review: SKINAMARINK
Related: Movie Review: A LOT OF NOTHING
Related: Movie Review: KNOCK AT THE CABIN
Related: Movie Review: 80 FOR BRADY
Related: Movie Review: ALIVE
Related: Movie Review: INFINITY POOL
Related: Movie Review: FEAR
Related: Movie Review: ALICE, DARLING
Related: Movie Review: THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN
Related: Movie Review: THE OFFERING
Related: Movie Review: HUMAN RESOURCES
Related: Movie Review: M3GAN
Related: Movie Review: THE PALE BLUE EYE
Related: Movie Review: BABYLON
Related: Movie Review: JOYRIDE
Related: Movie Review: SCARE PACKAGE II: RAD CHAD’S REVENGE
Related: Movie Review: WOMEN TALKING
Related: Movie Review: AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Related: Movie Review: AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Related: Movie Review: MINDCAGE
Related: Movie Review: MISTER CREEP
Related: Movie Review: THE APOLOGY
Related: Movie Review: THE CHRISTMAS TAPES
Related: Movie Review: EMPIRE OF LIGHT

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE

Related Posts: