In one of the most moving scenes towards the end of Petra Costa’s documentary film, Apocalypse in the Tropics, the upside-down head of the Lady Justice sculpture lies on the floor of the ransacked Supreme Court in Brasilia, along with a bust of some Brazilian politician from the past turned towards the walls, as if unable to bear the terror that had unfolded in front of their eyes. The hour and a few minutes preceding this scene ultimately seems like a slow and gradual build-up to such a devastating image, with the director’s main focus being on the connection between the rise of religious sentiments and the emergence of the far-right in Brazil. While such a connection has been drawn numerous times before in films and literature, Apocalypse in the Tropics presents a thoroughly Brazilian version of it, replete with clever visual cues, beautiful imagery, and a determined yet sensitive and personal narration by Costa herself. With Apocalypse in the Tropics now available to stream on Netflix, it is an absolute must-watch for fans of serious documentary films.
What is Petra Costa’s main argument?
It has been noted, time and again in history, that whenever there is a significant rise in the popularity of right-wing ideology, it is accompanied, or rather, accommodated, by a strong sense of unity among the masses, making them justify injustice posed as necessary toughness. The two most common unifying factors bringing people together in such scenarios are nationalism and religion, with the latter gaining precedence in 21st-century right-wing ideology. The deep-rooted belief that modern life has rapidly pushed us to a morally and spiritually decrepit existence has often found its way into the right-wing rhetoric of our times. But more often than not, the veil of religion has been used for some ulterior motive, for religion has never been detached from politics in the history of human civilization. While it is still used as a political tool in various different contexts, Apocalypse in the Tropics peers into the obvious but not always apparent connection between religion and politics in present-day Brazil, a country that still stands at the juncture of development and widespread poverty.
Director Petra Costa takes a very subjective look at the emerging social changes in her homeland, and the film begins with archival footage from 1960, when the construction of Brasilia was being completed by enthusiastic workers. This was to be the new capital of Brazil, and while there were numerous administrative and logistical reasons behind this decision to shift the capital from Rio de Janeiro to the new city of Brasilia, one important factor was also to break free from the Catholic colonial tradition that had always emphasized Rio. Brazil, now independent and on the verge of spreading her wings to fly towards economic development, needed a new capital that was not tainted by colonial history, and the city of Brasilia had been built in an appropriate manner. Modernist visions of progress, equality, and democracy drove the citizens back then to build their new capital city, instead of blind faith in religion.
While these values and understandings have been considered to be modern and rational for decades, the situation has slowly but steadily changed with the emergence of a ‘modern’ and negotiated belief in religion that accepts the fact that we have made certain technological, social, and scientific advancements but ultimately wants to place religion at the center of it all once again. Costa talks about noticing this shift in the cultural and social fabric in Brazil from around 2016, although there was a solid reason behind the shift as well. For decades, the promises of equality and justice made by democracy had been empty proclamations, which had set back the country’s economy massively and ultimately frustrated the citizens beyond a tipping point. Thus, helpless people had to turn to some new belief system that would give them new promises of happiness, well-being, and abundance, and no better way could have been paved for the return of religion. As the Brazilian citizens’ frustration and despair regarding the political system grew, so did their inclination towards religion, and the popularity of evangelical Christianity kept growing steadily.
Petra Costa sees the 2018 presidential elections in Brazil as the culmination point of this rising popularity in evangelism, providing a close look at how citizens were swayed towards a particular side through religion. Apocalypse in the Tropics covers the direct connection between evangelical pastors, or televangelists, like Silas Malafaia, and the ex-president, Jair Bolsonaro, along with the frenzy that religious fanaticism can give rise to. Her film also poignantly proves how religion, in the 21st century, is rapidly taking a form that is transcending politics and culture.
How did Jair Bolsonaro benefit from the rise in evangelism?
Jair Bolsonaro never hid his nationalist far-right sentiments, from the beginning of his political career, and he slowly gained popularity using the fundamental conservative claims. Even as recently as 2016, Bolsonaro was a low-ranking ultra-right politician who arguably did and said a lot of things just for media attention. Much of these controversial actions of his were poised against left-leaning liberals, and he had already created a name for himself in the ultra-right camp. He was actively vocal against the social reforms that his political rivals wanted to introduce, like legalizing homosexuality and introducing sex education as a mandatory subject in schools, and was also promising everything that right-wing supporters want to hear anywhere in the world. This included the promise of gun ownership and related rights, the abolishment of special rights for marginalized communities, keeping abortion illegal, and most importantly, bringing an end to the political Left in Brazil.
But right before he entered the presidential race in 2018, Jair Bolsonaro made certain associations that were immensely necessary to bolster his campaign, and one of the most important associations was with the popular televangelist, Silas Malafaia. Bolsonaro was already used to the idea of taking advantage of religion, as he had adopted his wife’s Christian religion earlier in his political career and had then started to build a certain Christian nationalist identity for himself. Thus, when Malafaia openly supported him during the presidential election campaign, it was clearly a nod to the millions of people who watched and followed the religious preacher to make the ‘correct’ choice on the ballot. The main opposition to Bolsonaro, Luiz Inacio Lula, had already been imprisoned on charges of corruption, and he used this situation to further criticize the Worker’s Party and ensure that he would triumph in the elections.
Malafaia, who appears in the documentary as well, actively campaigned for Bolsonaro, as he did not shy away from being involved in the world of politics. As Malafaia himself states, his understanding of Christian religion does not keep him restricted to the church or only certain sectors of life, like education. Instead, it is his understanding of religion that further pushes him to be a part of the most important sector of modern civilization—politics. With Malafaia by his side, Bolsonaro promised to establish an openly religious nation, in which Christianity and Christian values would dictate, or at least have significant presence in, every facet of society. He openly supported more military control and promised to present to his voters a Brazil ‘belonging to God.’ Supporters of the right-wing finally found a voice in him, while those who did not have any strong political following but were practicing Christians who wanted their values of family and culture intact actively supported him. Those who were tired of the Worker’s Party’s repeated acts of corruption and were desperate for a change in the country’s economic landscape decided to give him a chance. An attempted assassination in September of 2018, a little less than two months before the elections, clearly bolstered his position even further, and finally in October, Jair Bolsonaro won the election to become the new president of Brazil.
How did evangelism take its present form in Brazil?
Apocalypse in the Tropics also takes a look into how evangelical Christianity took its present form in Brazil, even though the Catholic religion has existed in the country for centuries, ever since the Portuguese started propagating and converting. By the time the Portuguese left and Brazil became a kingdom and then a republic, Christianity had been intricately woven into the lifestyle of the people. But something different started to happen in the 1950s and 60s, when, like in many other countries in the world, the educated masses in Brazil also started to see a ray of hope in Communism. The shift in beliefs naturally started to occur from the grassroots level, but quite unexpectedly, Catholic priests and religious leaders also started to indirectly participate in it.
The priests were never interested in being a part of a political ideology directly, but they were teaching their parishioners to question the existing world order, in which the socially and financially backward people were always exploited or left out, while the rich were continuing to get richer. Understandably, a wave of communist ideas and ideology swept over Brazilian society at the time as part of a movement called Liberation Theology, which found its way into all Latin American countries. An unexpected amalgamation of religion with socialist beliefs, this theological movement propagated a religion that was compassionate towards supposed ‘sinners’ and instead focused on questioning the existing power structures in society.
This situation naturally threatened the United States of America, who were already going through the uncertain Cold War, and also the Vatican City, who were losing grip over Latin America, as the official Catholic Church was being ‘intruded’ upon by Liberation Theology. Multiple documents later revealed that the American government actively employed lobbying groups to go over to Brazil and spread their form of Christianity through supposed English classes, a Christianity that had room for capitalism, and this was how the seeds of Evangelical Christianity were first sown in Brazil. With time, this group gained numbers significantly, becoming more popular and obviously creeping into the country’s political structure, and under Bolsonaro, the greatest number of Evangelical priests found their way into the Brazilian Parliament.
How did the Liberal Party lose the 2022 elections?
By the time of the next presidential elections, in 2022, Luiz Inacio Lula had been released from prison and had been cleared to run for presidency, after a rather unexpected turn of events. In 2021, the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil annulled all the charges against Lula, after an extensive investigation found leaked messages involving the federal judge who had headed the previous investigation, Sergio Moro. These messages proved that Moro, the lead investigator, had conspired with the state prosecutor, Deltan Dallagnol, to convict Lula on charges of corruption. It was clear as daylight that the presidential candidate had been convicted only to stop him from running in the election, which conveniently removed any significant opposition from Bolsonaro’s path.
Both President Bolsonaro and Silas Malafaia condemned the release of Lula from prison, but there was nothing to be done about it. By this time, Bolsonaro’s presidential term had been riddled with global controversies, including his lack of concern regarding Covid-19, which made Brazil the 2nd most affected country in the world, and also the large-scale deforestation in the Amazon. Those who had thought of giving him a chance were already fed up, and the tides had started to turn against him. But Apocalypse in the Tropics is mindful to mention that religion still played a key part, and in fact, this becomes a highlight of the film, as it makes it obvious that religion has now become an easy tool for politicians to use, and it is but obvious that all sides are ready to make peace with religion at the earliest chance.
In a relatively old interview with the filmmaker, Lula is seen openly stating that he never has and never will go to a church for a political campaign, and genuinely treats the church as a sacred place for quiet religious worship. However, in the very next scene, he is seen campaigning inside a church, as he had to take help from supportive Evangelist priests to bolster his chances in the next election. He also had to modify, or completely remove, certain reformation promises he had kept making earlier, and it all ultimately helped his position. After the second round of the elections in October of 2022, Luiz Inácio Lula defeated Jair Bolsonaro by a margin of about 2 million votes and was elected the new president of Brazil.
How did Bolsonaro’s supporters react to his loss?
Although Lula had just been elected the president, 49.10% of the voters had still put their faith in Bolsonaro and his Liberal Party, which meant that the result angered a lot of them. Bolsonaro’s refusal to openly accept defeat when he addressed the public on the following day added more fuel to the fire, while there were repeated insinuations by evangelical pastors and certain sections of the media. All of this enraged the supporters of Bolsonaro enough for them to decide to take up the law in their own hands, after repeatedly demanding a military takeover, as they believed that the election had been rigged. Finally, on the morning of 7th January, 2023, thousands of protestors marched to the Three Powers Plaza in Brasilia, the hub of all administrative buildings, and stormed the Congress building, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace. All the buildings were ransacked, looted, and vandalized, and the entire fiasco was extensively covered by the media. Unfortunately for this angry mob, who were ready to do just about anything to bring justice to their beloved President, Jair Bolsonaro was not even in the country at this time. Towards the end of December, 2022, Bolsonaro had left for Florida, where he stayed for the next three months, watching the mayhem he had caused in his homeland after having been booted out of power from a distance.
Where is Jair Bolsonaro now?
The politician’s ‘escape’ to the United States of America right after the election results was criticized by many, including Silas Malafaia. The pastor openly calls Bolsonaro’s travel to Florida a cowardly act in an interview at the end of Apocalypse in the Tropics, and funnily enough, he claims Lula to be a real brave hero for having stuck with his country even after being imprisoned in 2018. It is almost as if the documentary makes it evident that people like Malafaia will always find a way to suck up to those in power in order to maintain their own positions. Bolsonaro eventually returned to Brazil later in 2023, but an investigation conducted by the Federal Police in November of 2024 put him in immense trouble.
This investigation found that he had been leading a criminal organization in planning a coup d’etat to overthrow the Lula government and had also made plans to assassinate the president, as well as Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Bolsonaro had a long-standing feud with de Moraes, a Supreme Court judge who had refused to use Christian values to make rulings in cases during the Bolsonaro government. He was indicted on all charges in 2025, and the Supreme Court has ruled that he must stand trial. Jair Bolsonaro, who has always had very close relations with the United States of America, is now trying different means to help his situation, as he is now trying to make use of a very obvious friendship. Donald Trump just announced, at the end of last week, that he intends to impose up to a 50% tax on goods produced in Brazil if the Bolsonaro trial is not ended with immediate effect.
