‘Apocalypse’ Now on Netflix

When I was invited to a big screen viewing of Apocalypse in the Tropics before its Netflix debut on July 14, I had not heard of it. From the title, I thought it might be about the effects of climate change, or the deforestation of the Amazon or, perhaps, how the deforestation of the Amazon contributes to climate change. Instead, this documentary by Brazilian Filmmaker Petra Costa, director of the Academy Award-winning The Edge of Democracy, examines the impact of religion on Brazil’s political landscape.

Historically Catholic, Brazil has recently seen one of the most rapid growths of a religion in modern history. According to the film, in the last 40 years, Evangelical Christianity has grown from a marginal religion of only about 5%, to the religion of almost a third of Brazil’s population of 200 million. The film takes its title from this crucial piece of scripture for these more than 50 million recent converts. Evangelical Christianity focuses primarily on the New Testament and gives particular weight to the Book of Revelations which, in Brazilian Portuguese, is known as Apocalipse.

Apocalypse in the Tropics ★★★★ (4/5 stars)
Directed by: Petra Costa
Written by: Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino, David Barker, Nels Bangerter, Tina Baz, Moara Passoni
Running time: 110 mins

Costa shows how deeply religion is entangled in Brazilian politics from the very first scene. Women in street clothes pray over the desks and seats of Congress, sometimes speaking in tongues. They are thorough, blessing every last of the hundreds of tables and chairs. Still in the chamber of elected representatives, a pastor gathers the faithful into a circle. He invites Costa to join them, handing her a bible. “Begin with Matthew,” he instructs her, “Read the New Testament, don’t bother with the Old.” Moments later, one of the women begins methodically pounding her feet into the floor, overcome by the Holy Spirit.

Costa divides the film into seven chapters. Many bear seemingly religious titles like “Dominion,” or “Genesis,” but the chapter “God in the time of Cholera,” references Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Márquez as it explores Brazil’s disastrous response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The president at that time, Jair Bolsonaro, refused to invest in vaccines or medicine, instead insisting that people should pray. He tells his people, in close-up to camera, “Everyone dies,” and “we will all stink the same when we are dead.” His callous attitude and failure to invest in or provide medical care to his people left the nation of Brazil with 700,000 people dead, the world’s second largest death toll behind the United States.

What’s fascinating, though, is how the filmmaker, always leading with curiosity rather than judgement, reveals the religious logic behind Bolsonaro’s behavior. Evangelical Christians, who overwhelmingly support him, believe in a rather literal and extreme interpretation of the Book of Revelations in which, upon His return, Christ and His army of the faithful will take vengeance on nonbelievers. After this final battle, He will establish Heaven on Earth and the faithful will live in peace for 1000 years before the final judgement, when treacherous souls will be tortured in Hell and the righteous will live on in glory in Heaven forever. According to the Book of Revelations, “pestilence” — in this case Covid — is one of the four harbingers of the apocalypse and can be welcomed as a sign of His return.

If death is inevitable and you want to be saved, prayer is the only answer. Costa’s drone and handheld footage of people frozen in place, knees on dirt sidewalks, arms outstretched, or praying with their faces toward buildings evokes a zombie apocalypse. As hospitals beg for oxygen and people mourn their loved ones, the populace is suspended in prayer, unable to act.

Costa traces the beginning of the rise of evangelical christianity in Brazil to the 1960’s and the Cold War. During this period, a movement called Liberation Theology was on the rise in Brazil. Catholic theologians, in response to the abject poverty and suffering of many of their flock started a movement built on the tenet that God is on the side of the poor and oppressed. This movement preached that the church should act to bring about social change, freeing the impoverished and marginalized from political and economic oppression.

Some, however, were alarmed by Liberation Theology, fearing that it meant Marxism had infiltrated the Catholic Church. As part of its effort to win the Cold War, the Nixon administration covertly sent evangelical pastors to Latin America, those who would preach a fire and brimstone bible, in an effort to undermine the liberation movement. These efforts bore fruit, as evidenced in the archival footage Costa employs, which shows televangelist Billy Graham’s visit to Rio de Janeiro in 1974, where, on the final day of his crusade, he filled the Maracana soccer stadium with a quarter million people.

The work of evangelicals, and the surreptitious infiltration of Brazil by the United States, did more than undermine Liberation Theology. It laid the groundwork for Dominion Theology, which asserts that Christian laws should serve as the basis for civil laws and that Christianity should take control, or dominion, over government, along with education, art and culture. The film touches on this movement, even naming one of its chapters “Dominion,” but does not engage deeply with the intersection of evangelical Christianity and Dominion Theology.

Costa, whose parents were left-wing political activists who fought against the dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964-1985, is not a religious person and says she studied the bible for the first time when making this film. When it comes to religion, she is an outsider looking in, and it feels like that may be the current state of her relationship with Brazil, as well. After making

The Edge of Democracy, she was subjected to threats, including by Bolsonaro. Indeed, when she returned to Brasilia to film Apocalypse, she avoided conducting direct interviews with him herself.

Costa’s understandable mini-exile makes her film feel a bit removed from the people of Brazil, She has a masters degree in Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and her lens feels a bit academic. Philosophical narrations paint vivid pictures and are often thought-provoking, but remain lofty and poetic and, therefore, distancing.

Costa mines intriguing interviews with the evangelist preacher Silas Malafaia, who wields his power unapologetically, proudly defending his lavish lifestyle and justifying his cruelty. He is a puppet master, and Costa shows us the strings, at one point literally rewinding her film so that we can see him mouth the words of a speech along with Bolsonaro, whom he helped place in power, even funding his rallies. Likewise, her interviews with former and now current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are wide ranging and satisfying.

She fails to capture a first-hand account of Lula’s decision to betray his own conviction that politics have no place in the church. Instead, she documents his shift with narration and footage of his participation in public prayer. He even consented to be blessed in public — a decision which might have won him the Presidential election in 2022.

And, this, perhaps, is indicative of what the film lacks. The why. Why did people turn to evangelical Christianity and why did they vote for Bolsonaro, when neither he nor Malafaia even profess to have their interests at heart? Why have these 50 million Brazilians changed their religious affiliation when their beliefs seem to have stayed constant?

There is one memorable interview with a Bolsonaro supporter, an evangelical woman who explains that her faith guides her to vote for him. Her daughter, meanwhile, lurks in the doorway, unwilling to admit that she supports Lula until her mother encourages her to do so. The girl breaks into a wide grin, explaining that Lula has better policies. The mother admits her daughter is right, but remains faithful to her position.

This is a beautiful, thought provoking film that is nevertheless difficult to watch. Produced by Brad Pitt and distributed by Netflix in two versions, one with Costa’s narration in Portuguese, the other in English, this remains a Brazilian film. However, one cannot help but see the striking similarities between Bolsonaro and the current president of the United States, both propelled by Christian nationalist movements. The striking similarities are clearly not lost on Costa, who lays out uncannily parallel events, and she lets them speak for themselves.

The last chapter, aptly titled, “Revelation,” shows a glimmer of hope that worshipers will be represented by their priests. We see religious leaders arguing for an inclusive church that embraces liberal ideals. The viewer is left with the smallest encouragement that perhaps a Liberation Theology can turn the tide away from religion as a tool of fear, oppression, intimidation and death, toward one embodying the Bible’s teachings of mercy, helping the poor and the meek and caring for our earth. One thing is for certain, Brazil is in the throes of religious fervor and its politicians need to engage with it to pull the government back from the edge of theocracy.