DocHouse: Apocalypse in the Tropics

Acclaimed filmmaker Petra Costa exposes the volatile clash between religion and freedom in Brazil, revealing how apocalyptic theology fuels the far right and threatens the nation's fragile democracy.

Five years after Oscar-nominated THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, Costa returns to Brazil’s political battlefield to examine the dangerous rise of religious extremism. Gaining rare access to key players – including President Lula, former President Bolsonaro and firebrand televangelist Silas Malafaia – she reveals how evangelical leaders have steered the country toward the brink of theocracy. As Malafaia preaches that worsening global chaos will hasten Christ’s return, Costa weaves past and present, juxtaposing Renaissance depictions of the Apocalypse with Brazil’s modern-day democratic crisis. Through gripping investigative storytelling, she delivers a chilling warning: when faith and politics collide, democracy’s survival hangs by a thread.