How To Blow Up A Pipeline review: a propulsive climate crisis thriller
This eco-terrorism nail biter featuring an excellent ensemble cast is an electrifying work of activist filmmaking
How To Blow Up A Pipeline starts like a heist movie. Set to rhythmic music, a team of activists in West Texas separately go about their tasks, then gather together. Slowly and deliberately, each character and what they do is revealed. There’s an emphasis on work and preparation. Each character is moving, doing something, or taking care of someone. Obviously, they are getting together to perform the act that’s in the movie’s title. The “why” is held back for the time being. Propulsive and with a hint of mystery, these early scenes set the film up like a thriller.
However, How To Blow Up A Pipeline has many ideas on its mind. This is a story—urgent and of this moment in time—about the climate crisis, the personal toll it takes on a few people, and the drastic measures they employ to try and make a meaningful impact. The film is based on the 2021 book by Andreas Malm and the movie’s credits present the filmmakers as a team. This collective includes Daniel Goldhaber (writer, director, producer), Ariela Barer (actor, writer, producer), Jordan Sjol (writer, executive producer), and Daniel Garber (editor). That sense of teamwork bleeds into the very narrative. In flashbacks, each character’s story comes to light as to why and when they became a climate activist. They are a motley crew and would never have come together if not for the common cause. There’s the righteous college students (Barer and Marcus Scribner), the Christian landowner (Jake Weary), and the Native American activist (Forrest Goodluck), the latter two having been harmed by the government. There’s the cancer patient (Sasha Lane) and her empathetic girlfriend (Jayme Lawson) and two drifters (Lukas Gage and Kristine Froseth) whose story remains vague until much later in the film. Not every motive and relationship is fully fleshed out immediately and that restraint provides a sense of continuous mystery. The audience is pulled in to try and figure out all the connections.