How to Blow Up a Pipeline
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Overview
A crew of young environmental activists execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline.
Trailer
Cast
Ariela Barer
Kristine Frøseth
Lukas Gage
Forrest Goodluck
Sasha Lane
Jayme Lawson
Marcus Scribner
Jake Weary
Irene Bedard
Olive Jane Lorraine
Melissa Chambers
Giancarlo Beltran
Mariel Martínez
Jasper Keen
Halle Charlton
Adam Wyatt Tate
Loren Anthony
Mary Kay Riley
Crew
Greg Crawford
Ariela Barer
Ariela Barer
Angelique Midthunder
Andrejs Prokopenko
Adri Siriwatt
Coll Anderson
Eric M. Levy
Aleksandra Stojanovic
Eugene Kotlyarenko
Lauren Citera
Lauren Citera
Scott Hastings
Daniel Garber
Ric Schnupp
Forrest Goodluck
Daria Castellanos
Kendra Tuthill
Eunice Jera Lee
Stefan Chakerian
Heather I. Denton
Gavin Brivik
Heath Hensley
Michael Odmark
Michael Odmark
Daniel Goldhaber
Daniel Goldhaber
Daniel Goldhaber
Isa Mazzei
Isa Mazzei
Joshua Swanson
Ruby Paiva
Danielle Mandel
Danielle Mandel
David Grove Churchill Viste
Adam Wyatt Tate
Denae Marshall
Riccardo Maddalosso
Tessa Anderson
Dante Pasquinelli
Tehillah De Castro
Eric Di Stefano
Sean Perry
Morgan Greenwood
Julianna Sy
Vladimir Kerkez
Natalie Sellers
Tara Mazzucca
Alex Hughes
Drew Brandon Jones
Michelle Suh
Jessica Clark
Jordan Sjol
Jordan Sjol
Alex Black
Jon Rosenberg
Andreas Malm
Derek Herrera
Cali Mazariego
Cali Mazariego
Allie Swift
Christian Urbina
Emily Yue
Emily Yue
Sara Victoria Bjerre Pedersen
Kelly Hrebenak
Emma Murphy
Jose Espinoza
The film opens with an act of sabotage. A young woman, Xochitl, cuts the tires of an SUV and leaves a bright yellow one-page manifesto left on the window.
In Long Beach, California, Xochitl and her friend Theo witness the devastating effects of climate change. Xochitl’s mother dies during a “freak heat wave” in a city plagued by pollution from oil refineries. Frustrated by the slow progress of their campus divestment campaign, Xochitl expresses a desire for more radical environmental action. Theo is diagnosed with terminal cancer caused by the pollution, adding a sense of urgency to their cause.
Theo and Xochitl convince Theo’s skeptical girlfriend, Alisha, and a number of other individuals, to plot an act of environmental terrorism. Shawn, a film student who met Xochitl through the divestment movement, introduces the group to Dwayne, a blue-collar Texan with deep resentment towards an oil company that used eminent domain laws to seize his family’s ancestral land, depriving him and his pregnant wife of their home. The team also recruits Michael, a Native American self-taught explosives expert from a North Dakota reservation who picks fights with oil rig workers and rejects his mother’s pacifist activism. Completing the group are Rowan and Logan, an adventurous and loving young couple drawn to the cause.
United by their shared belief that non-disruptive action is insufficient, the group devises a plan to strategically detonate homemade explosives along an unguarded section of a recently constructed oil pipeline in West Texas. The pipeline is partially built on Dwayne’s land; his intimate knowledge of the targeted area helps the group plan the attack. They hope that the destruction of the segment will force the company to shut down its Texas operations for a period of time, causing crude oil prices worldwide to spike due to their indexing to West Texas crude. The group gathers at a remote cabin, where they begin manufacturing explosives and digging up a section of the pipeline.
While executing their plan, the group encounters several setbacks and challenges. Members of the crew are distracted by alcohol, Michael accidentally detonates a primer charge during preparation, a surveillance drone monitors their activities, and Alisha fractures her leg when a barrel of explosives falls on her. Rowan and Logan, entrusted to prevent local pollution by shutting off the pipeline flow, find themselves unexpectedly confronted by armed company property inspectors. Logan successfully distracts them while Rowan completes the task. In the process, he sustains a gunshot wound. Despite these challenges, the rest of the group receives confirmation that the flow of oil has been cut, leading them to detonate the bomb and successfully blow up the pipeline. Xochitl broadcasts a triumphant message on Instagram calling others to action.
Following the explosion, the group scatters and Rowan tends to Logan’s injuries, removing bullet fragments from his shoulder. She then discreetly meets with two FBI agents. Xochitl knowingly included Rowan, an FBI informant, in their plan, enabling them to outwit federal and local police by convincing them that only Theo and Xochitl were involved in the sabotage. Rowan secures her freedom (having previously faced legal consequences following her involvement in a similar incident) and receives a substantial reward for her information. Michael, Alisha, Shawn, and Dwayne quickly establish alibis placing them away from the scene. The police find the cabin where the group had manufactured the explosives just moments after Theo and Xochitl detonate a final bomb inside. The duo peacefully surrenders as planned.
The film concludes by showing the effects of the plot upon the group’s members, and others. Theo and Xochitl are sentenced to lengthy prison terms, though Theo dies shortly afterwards. While the other group members remain free, family members suspect their involvement, federal agents monitor their actions, and they reflect on their decisions. Finally, another act of sabotage is shown. Inspired by the West Texas group, a trio of masked individuals plant a bomb in a Miami yacht, leaving behind the same manifesto seen earlier.
Genre: Hollywood, Crime, Drama, Thriller.
Released: 2023.
Director: Daniel Goldhaber.
Starring: Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, Irene Bedard