As "Endangered" (2022 release; 90 min) opens, it is "2020" and we are introduced to Patricia Mello, a journalist at the well-respected newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, in Brazil. She is at a rally of President Bolsonaro, who screams that "We must destroy the mainstream media, and exterminate these journalists." (Sounds familiar?) Soon thereafter, Bolsonaro attacks Mello by name... At this point we are10 min into the movie.
Couple of comments: this is the latest from longtime documentarians Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing ("12th & Delaware", "One of US"). Here they follow 4 journalists for an entire year, two of which are working in the US, 1 in Brazil and 1 in Mexico, as mainstream journalists are under unprecedented threats and attacks by Putin-wanna-be's like Bolsonaro in Brazil, Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico, and last but not least, the Big Loser & Liar-In-Chief, who claims without a shred of decency that mainstream media "are the enemy of the people". No, sir, they are not. YOU are. I have to admit that when I started watching this documentary, I had low expectations going in, as I pretty much figured I knew what I was going to see. While that turned out to be true as to the core substance of the film (one talking head correctly observes "There is no democracy without freedom of the press"), I was nevertheless amazed and frankly overwhelmed by the footage of it all, and even more so, by the utter courage and leadership demonstrated by these journalists. The concepts of "courage and leadership" is something the Liar-in-Chief wouldn't know the first thing about, even if it hit him in the face, as the recent January 6 Committee hearings have made clear time and again. Thuggery and lawlessness, now that is something he knows quite a lot about! Please note that the film's overall rating currently showing here on IMDb (5.7 based on 115 ratings) is grossly misleading--almost certainly resulting from low ratings given by Trumpist trolls who have not actually seen the film, because you know they simply hate the idea of democracy and freedom of the press), and that all posted reviews to date have this rated 9 or 10 stars.
"Endangered" started streaming on HBO Max just a few days ago. If you are interested in seeing a well-made documentary about the courage and leadership of journalists standing up against the pressures and intimidation to bring us the facts, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion. After all, "democracy dies in darkness" (the Washington Post's tag line).
