‘The Oil Machine’ Review: The argument for Just Stop Oil
The tactics of those taking part in Just Stop Oil protests across Europe and the world have been called into question for many months, and whilst they can be debated week-on-week, the fact remains that the cause they are fighting for grows evermore concerning. Concerns about the environment, animal agriculture, and continued oil usage need to be addressed sooner rather than later, and Emma Davie’s new documentary The Oil Machine helps to explain these issues with a comprehensive yet concise study.
Certainly feeling like the context that the Just Stop Oil cause has been dearly craving for so long, Davie’s solemn documentary is a far cry from the repetitive style of Netflix’s flashy contemporary documentaries, offering little more than the brutal facts of climate change’s steady destruction. That’s not to say Davie’s film lacks flair; it merely prefers the view of graphs and talking heads rather than the slow panning shots of oil refineries that it sparingly uses to great effect.
Instead, Davie’s film is a comprehensive document as detailed and as daunting as Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, laying out the realities of the climate crisis with little room for flashy editing and cinematic glitz.
Coming in at a humble 82 minutes, Davie’s film is as consumable as any excellent TV documentary, with the extra 20 minutes adding some hefty weight that underlines the true severity of the global situation. Thanks to its sheer pertinence, The Oil Machine is essential viewing for everyone from young students to governmental policymakers. It makes for bleak viewing, but it’s mesmerising in its delivery, making you rigid with worry and then alert with proactivity.
Whilst it is a riveting breakdown of how the influence of the black goo has seeped into every corner of contemporary British (and global) capitalism, it would benefit from providing a spectrum of voices from across the industry. Sure, it goes one step further than other chastising environmental documentaries by providing a counter-argument from industry experts. Still, it could have done with some diversity to be fair, balanced and truly compelling.
Still, it’s hard for a documentary of this kind to be truly balanced when the action it’s calling for is being so intentionally ignored by governments who treat the issue like an inconvenient truth. Indeed, the rhetoric against Just Stop Oil and similar campaigns is either overwhelmingly negative or deliberately disregarded, so it doesn’t feel like too much wrongdoing is being done by finally shining a light on the importance of the provocative protest movements.
This is especially true for The Oil Machine too, which nicely avoids the pitfalls of similar environmental documentaries like Seaspiracy, fact-checking their sources whilst refusing to force any hidden agenda. As it is, Emma Davie’s film is a call for drastic action regarding climate change, demanding that the government do more than merely use reusable cups, as suggested recently by the Secretary of State for Environment, Thérèse Coffey.
It might make for a tough watch, but it’s undeniable that The Oil Machine makes for mandatory viewing.
