We, the Hated review – standing up to be abused: behind the scenes with Just Stop Oil - 世界杯

The levels of violence aimed at these protesters is depressing, but their aim is to save the planet: ‘If they want to destroy everything, they’ve got to go through us’

‘Hated” is not putting it too strongly. The strength of feeling against Just Stop Oil, as caught by this documentary, is really disturbing. It’s filmed from inside the climate group’s protests, and as activists block roads, furious drivers hurl abuse. “Have a wash you fucking idiots!” “Middle class wankers!” It gets physical, too – punching, kicking and dragging. One man appears to drive his van at protesters. Another walks along a line of them, pouring water over their heads, one by one.

Film-maker Rich Felgate could not be closer to the action; his girlfriend, Indigo Rumbelow, is an activist. “Don’t look at the camera. I’m a fly on the wall,” he tells her at their shared house, where books about the suffragettes and Gandhi are on the shelves. On the streets, activists glue themselves to roads and fasten their necks together with bike locks. In October 2022, campaigners notoriously lobbed tomato soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. At one road shutdown an angry driver shouts: “You’re children.” But they’re not all young; a vicar in late middle age with Parkinson’s quickly takes his medicine before he’s cuffed.