Like A Clockwork Orange or Wall Street, this film will come to define a generation. Variously described as “peril porn”, and “the most powerful cultural discourse on climate change ever produced”, Franny Armstrong’s new climate change epic evokes anything but indifference. Weighing up a vision of a post-apocalyptic world with real-life documentary footage and quirky yet informative animation, this ‘Dram-Doc-imation’ strikes a difficult balance brilliantly. With humour, charm and real-life stories, Armstrong makes the tough message easier to swallow and entertaining to the end.
Narrated by a future survivor (Oscar-Nominated Pete Postlethwaite), from a tower sanctuary from the raging climate chaos, The Age of Stupid is the story of an old man pondering why humankind watched its own extinction yet did nothing about it. Skilfully woven into a larger narrative of human and political history, Armstrong avoids the overtly left-wing stance of her earlier films, allowing it to remain accessible for activists and climate virgins alike.
But all this misses the point. The Age of Stupid is not just a film, it is a movement. Whilst delivering a simultaneous slap in the face, it also extends a hand and welcomes you to become part of the growing movement to save civilisation. With crowd-funding, nominal wages and a total advertising budget of just £1000, this word-of-mouth phenomenon has already achieved a multi-record breaking premier.
With the explicit aim to “turn 250 million viewers into climate activists”, starter packs are handed out at every screening. After a brief but powerful rejection of climate change deniers, the film is free to tackle the great scourge of progress, the defeatists. An animated history of mass protest movements along with well constructed sound bites from leading climate activists creates an infectious sense of momentum and leaves you inspired to take action. Having already prompted the tabloid press to release its first ever warnings about climate change, this film has the power to transform public perception of climate and thus force politicians to act.
While there are faults with the film, both artistically and scientifically (not least its predilection to slightly irrelevant rants), the central message of the film is hammered home with superb clarity. The truth is no longer inconvenient, it is downright devastating.
4/5 stars
