Some movies are so carefully conceived and worked out that they can feel contrived due to their meticulous attention to detail. The script of this eco-thriller by director Daniel Goldhaber, based on a manifesto by Andreas Malm, brings together a disparate group of people driven less by idealism than by personal angers that make it impossible for them to exist in today’s world the way the rest of us do. Such emotional contours are difficult to depict, especially since they justify, dramatically speaking, an act of terrorism that Goldhaber obviously feels is justified, and what saves the film from its own slickness is the way it makes the varying plot points play into the suspense-action premise that keeps the viewer tense and alert at every turn.

Malm’s thesis is that organized pacifist protest against the generators of climate change will never have any effect because the corporate mind that makes such destruction possible will never be receptive to moral arguments. If we take it as a given that climate change leads to global self-destruction, then we in fact have a moral responsibility to stop it by any means necessary, including violence. The people in the movie who plan to destroy an oil pipeline in west Texas are adamant that their actions not hurt people, only property, but the stakes are so high in terms of what could happen if they fail or are caught that the viewer automatically assumes their burden of anxiety. The leader of the group, which is brought together carefully through clandestine connections both online and off, is Xochitl (Ariela Barer, who also co-wrote the screenplay), a woman who tried the pacifist route and quickly realized it was a dead end. Having grown up near the refineries of Long Beach, California, she’s seen how an accepted toxic environment destroys lives, including that of her friend Theo (Sasha Lane), who is dying of cancer and joins the sabotage team to make one last statement. Theo brings her lover, Alisha (Jayme Lawson), on board because that’s what lovers do. Shawn (Marcus Scriber) is Xochitl’s college friend who bonded with her over ecological concerns and has long harbored a desire to get back at the faceless monolith that is the energy industry. Branching out from this core quartet is the explosives expert Michael (Forrest Goodluch), a Native American from North Dakota who has seen his tribal home despoiled by capitalism; the older Dwayne (Jake Weary), a good ol’ boy from Texas whose land has been seized by the owners of the pipeline by means of eminent domain; and a young couple of hippie firecrackers (Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage) who are drawn to the dangers of the project with a palpable sexual energy. 

Goldhaber provides just enough backstory to elucidate each member’s rationale without diminishing the thrust of the main plot, which is laid out like clockwork. As with all great thrillers, there are sequences of heart-stopping suspense and even several late twists that keep you guessing (Is there a mole? Are the authorities already hip to the scheme?) as to the real purposes of some of the characters. It’s a movie that doesn’t let up, thus providing no window of opportunity to question these people’s motives and practices. And in the end, it’s only a pipeline. 

Now playing in Tokyo at Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho (03-6259-8608), Cinemart Shinjuku (03-5369-2831). 

How to Blow Up a Pipeline home page in Japanese

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