How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Short description
How to Blow Up a Pipeline follows a group of young environmental activists who come together to carry out an act of sabotage against an oil pipeline in Texas. The story centers on Xochitl and Theo, who grew up in Long Beach, California, a heavily polluted city that shaped their views on environmental damage. After Xochitl loses her mother during a severe heat wave, she becomes convinced that radical action is necessary, and the group settles on a pipeline as its target. Alongside Theo's friend Alisha and several other recruits, they assemble and prepare to execute the plan.
The 2023 crime drama and thriller was directed by Daniel Goldhaber, his second feature after Cam in 2018, from a screenplay he wrote with Ariela Barer and Jordan Sjol. Barer also produced and stars as Xochitl, joined by Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane and Jayme Lawson among a credited cast of 32, with 89 credited crew members. It runs 104 minutes.
The film received a critics' rating of 7.8 out of 10 from 169 reviews, notably higher than its audience scores of 6.9 on IMDb from around 12,000 votes and 6.4 on TMDB from roughly 204 votes. It grossed about 1 million USD worldwide. Goldhaber went on to direct Faces of Death in 2026.
What's left behind the scenes
- A senior official from the US State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and Violent Extremism served as a technical consultant on the film and requested to remain anonymous.
- After reading the script, Kathleen Arrizmendi, who was the cinematographer for Daniel Goldhaber’s sci-fi thriller “Cam” in 2018, insisted that the film be shot on film, not digitally.
- Lucas Gage, who played Longan, improvised approximately 75% of his lines.
- Initially, the filmmakers faced financial difficulties because no one wanted to get involved with such a project. Eventually, director Daniel Goldhaber, along with actress, producer, and screenwriter Ariela Barer, went to the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, where they randomly found people who were interested in the project, even though the script was not yet finished.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
