How to Blow Up a Pipeline movie storyline. Theo and Xochitl, lifelong companions from Long Beach, California, a city riddled with pollution from multiple oil refineries, are now in their twenties. After Xochitl’s mother passes away during an unexpected heatwave that she attributes to climate change, she becomes disillusioned with the sluggish pace of her college divestment campaign. Seeking more aggressive environmental action, she shares her thoughts with Theo, who is battling leukemia. Together with Theo’s girlfriend Alisha and five strangers driven by their own motives, they devise a scheme to detonate an oil pipeline in West Texas.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a 2022 American environmentalist action-thriller film directed by Daniel Goldhaber, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ariela Barer and Jordan Sjol. It relies on ideas advanced in Andreas Malm’s 2021 book of the same name, published by Verso Books. Malm’s nonfiction work examines the history of social justice movements and argues for property destruction as a valid tactic in the pursuit of environmental justice. The film stars Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary and Irene Bedard.
Set primarily in West Texas, the film follows a fictional group of eight young individuals who decide to blow up an oil pipeline at two key locations. It explores the moral validity of extreme actions in addressing the climate crisis, the question of terrorism, and the use of property damage and sabotage as activist tactics. The production of the film spanned 19 months, from conception to completion, with principal photography taking place in New Mexico. The film premiered on September 10, 2022, at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on April 7, 2023.
Receiving generally favorable reviews from critics, How to Blow Up a Pipeline was praised for its eco-thriller premise, its exploration of moral and psychological challenges, and the complexity of its antiheroes. However, a few critics expressed concerns regarding the perceived promotion of terrorism and violence in the film’s narrative.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2023)
Directed by: Daniel Goldhaber
Starring: Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Irene Bedard, Mariel Martinez, Melissa Chambers, Olive Jane Lorraine
Screenplay by: Ariela Barer, Jordan Sjol, Daniel Goldhaber
Production Design by: Adri Siriwatt
Cinematography by: Tehillah De Castro
Film Editing by: Daniel Garber
Costume Design by: Eunice Jera Lee
Set Decoration by: Jessica Clark
Art Direction by: Kendra Tuthill
Music by: Gavin Brivik
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout and some drug use.
Distributed by: Neon
Release Date: September 10, 2022 (TIFF), April 7, 2023 (United States)
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