“It works! Rebellion works!” says Farhana Yamin, grinning. Outside Shell’s headquarters in central London – and in full view of an enormous crowd – the British-Pakistani climate lawyer and activist made a statement by crossing a line of police tape and supergluing her hand to the pavement. The moment is captured in real time in Maia Kenworthy and Elena Sánchez Bellot’s thoughtful, spirited documentary about the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion (XR). It focuses on members including Yamin, co-founder Gail Bradbrook, ex-farmer and self-described “non-violence nerd” Roger Hallam and Hallam’s daughter, Savannah.
Kenworthy and Sánchez Bellot make a clear and compelling case for direct action, by telling the story of how XR used civil disobedience to pressure the UK government into declaring an official “climate emergency” in the spring of 2019. Yet the film is more than just glossy marketing for the movement; the film-makers refuse to shy away from the power struggles and political clashes that plague XR’s cross-generational cast of characters.
