Petra Costa’s Oscar-contending documentary, “Apocalypse in the Tropics,” will be available on Netflix

The award-winning documentary Apocalypse in the Tropics, directed by Petra Costa, is reuniting with Netflix.

Today, the streaming service revealed that it will continue its successful collaboration with Costa by releasing the Oscar-contending movie in 2025. The Edge of Democracy, her 2019 Netflix Original documentary, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The Edge of Democracy examined how Brazil, Costa’s home country, escaped military dictatorship in the middle of the 1980s, but more recently, right-wing elements threatened basic democratic values by refusing to respect the peaceful handover of power (a scenario that would be repeated in the United States following the 2020 presidential election). Apocalypse in the Tropics explores the emergence of Christian nationalism, which is also becoming a bigger problem in the US, as a threat to Brazilian democracy.

“The genesis of this investigation on the rise of religious fundamentalism in Brazil was while I was filming The Edge of Democracy, actually, where I arrived in Congress trying to understand what was happening to Brazilian democracy, in the middle of the impeachment we had of our first female president, Dilma Rousseff,” Costa told Deadline at the Camden International Film Festival in Maine, where Apocalypse in the Tropics screened. “When I arrived in Congress, instead of finding congressmen discussing the issue at hand, I found them blessing the seat of Congress and speaking in tongues, led by a pastor and congressman. And, so, I asked him what was going to happen to Brazilian democracy, and he said that God would decide — it was all in God’s hand. And he asked me to accept Jesus and handed me a Bible. That was really a moment of awakening of the tectonic plates that were shaping Brazilian politics, which I was not aware of.”

The violent uprising at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 was mostly caused by Christian nationalist factions in the country. “A tapestry of symbols widely embraced by Christian nationalists, including a Jerusalem cross on his chest, an American flag with 13 stars partly obscured by an assault weapon below his shoulder, and the words ‘Deus Vult (‘God wills it’) on his biceps,” according to a Guardian report, are featured on the body of Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary.

In a statement, Costa stated, “I am thrilled that Apocalypse in the Tropics has found its home on Netflix.” “We worked on this documentary for four years because we believe the erosion of democracy is the most crucial issue we face. In our story, we look at what happens in Brazil as a fable of our times. I know from our experience with The Edge of Democracy that Netflix cares deeply for the filmmakers they work with and will help this story reach a global audience provoking a much needed conversation.”

Petra Costa is the writer and director of Apocalypse in the Tropics. In collaboration with Impact Partners, Play/Action Pictures, Luminate, and Plan B/KM Films, it is produced by Alessandra Orofino for Peri Productions and Petra Costa for Busca Vida Filmes.

Tina Baz, Nels Bangerter, Alessandra Orofino, and David Barker are co-writers of the movie. Jeffrey Lurie and Marie Therese Guirgis for Play/Action Pictures; Felipe Estefan and Rafael Georges Zein for Luminate; Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner for Plan B Films; Katy Drake Bettner; Kate Hurwitz; InMaat Foundation; Frida Polli; James Costa, and Trevor Burgess are among the executive producers, along with Jenny Raskin, Jim & Susan Swartz, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and Meadow Fund for Impact Partners.

In September, Apocalypse in the Tropics made its debut at the Venice Film Festival. Since then, it has been shown at numerous other film festivals, including Telluride, Camden, Stockholm, San Sebastián, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. At the Montclair Film Festival, it took home two awards, including the David Carr for Truth in Non-Fiction Filmmaking.