‘The Age of Stupid’ a frightening glimpse of the future

Director: Franny Armstrong

Cast: Pete Postlethwaite, Layefa Malini, Jamila and Adnan Bayyoud

Another documentary – in a week of new releases heavy on the documentary boom in mainstream screenings – from the we’re-all-doomed school, though here the world-in-crisis message is given an unusual twist by Armstrong.

Postlethwaite plays an archivist in the year 2050 looking back to today’s documentaries showing what a mess we made of dear old Planet Earth and wondering if what’s left of his world is, indeed, beyond saving.

There is no doubt that today we are laying the seeds for future – indeed for present – disaster and by using a series of random, but telling, clips from documentaries Armstrong reveals how and why: it’s all down to the sheer uncaring stupidity of humankind, to the use and misuse of wind farms, to low-cost flying, to oil pollution, to big business greed and corruption.

While Armstrong’s message is a powerful one and is told in an unusual way there are moments of unrelenting over-kill in the film, though given the alarming subject matter perhaps that’s not such a bad thing.

Star Rating: 4/5