Netflix has debuted the first trailer for its upcoming documentary, Apocalypse in the Tropics, which you can watch below!

Synopsis:

When does a democracy end, and a theocracy begin? In Apocalypse in the Tropics, director Petra Costa takes us on a decade-long journey through the spiritual and political upheaval of Brazil. What begins as a search for signs of life in a fragile democracy transforms into a deeper inquiry into the seductions of power, prophecy and belief. Costa gains extraordinary access to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former President Jair Bolsonaro and the nation’s magnetic televangelist Silas Malafaia. More than a chronicle of political change, Apocalypse in the Tropics is a cinematic investigation of the fault lines that emerge when religion fuels political ambition.

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With the savage clarity that defined her Academy Award–nominated The Edge of Democracy, Costa documents a time of kaleidoscopic confusion and fear with intimate observational filmmaking that braids together the personal, the historic and the mythic. As faith shifts from private refuge to public battleground, Brazil holds a mirror to a world where democracies are being tested by the power of prophecy.

Through interviews with elected officials, spiritual leaders, and ordinary citizens, the film traces the rapid rise of Evangelical influence on Brazilian politics, culminating in the 2018 election of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

“We worked on this documentary for four years because we believe the erosion of democracy is the most crucial issue we face,” Costa told Netflix. “In our story, we look at what happens in Brazil as a fable of our times.”

You can watch the trailer here:

Apocalypse in the Tropics is in select cinemas on July 11th before its Netflix debut on July 14th. 

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