A filmmaker gets more than he bargained for when his girlfriend is part of starting one of the most polarising protest movements in recent memory: Just Stop Oil. ‘We, The Hated’ tells the inside story of how a group of every-day concerned citizens hatch a contentious plan of civil disobedience to wake the country up to the climate emergency. And what the government does to shut them down.
As irreversible climate tipping points loom and their controversial protests face mounting repression, four activists—Indigo, Mark, Phoebe, and Jane—grapple with the personal cost of action against the existential stakes of inaction.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
I first picked up a camera as a climate activist to capture an insider's view of frontline protests, which became my debut film, FINITE. Being part of the movement myself gives my work an intimacy and insight that would otherwise be impossible. Over time, I've shifted from active protest to filmmaking. WE, THE HATED didn’t start out as a personal film. I met the main contributors, Mark, Jane and Phoebe in the early days of filming the Just Stop Oil movement and could quickly see remarkable personal journeys ahead of them. But despite myself and my partner Indigo perhaps being on a similar path, I felt reluctant to lean into my personal position. At that point, maybe I was somewhat in denial about what may lay ahead for my personal life amid the growing costs of activism I observed from behind the camera.
As the project evolved, my relationship with Indigo became the narrative spine, explored through voiceover and candid conversations. I examine my own inner tension: the climate movement's urgent need to keep fighting versus the personal cost borne by frontline activists.
The observational style reflects the intimate, behind-the-scenes perspective I bring to the subject, leaning into how the entire filming process consisted of just me and a camera.
Whilst being honest about my political lens as a filmmaker, my vision was to make a film that neither shies away from criticism of Just Stop Oil nor tell audiences what to think. Instead, I have aimed to create space to understand protesters' motivations and their humanity, while honestly depicting the complexity and animosity surrounding their actions. What immediately stood out was fly-on-the-wall footage of public debate erupting during roadblocking protests, showing the movement's divisiveness without editorialising and gaining a variety of perspectives with both humour and gravity.
My vision has been to create the feeling of a thriller, a tense David vs Goliath chess match between protesters and the government, the police, and the media. This is where the use of archive footage from news studios contrasted sharply with intimate behind-the-scenes access has been key.
Just Stop Oil has been a cultural and political phenomenon in the UK and their viral protests have made them infamous and recognisable around the world. But the dominant media framing has been about how they protest, not why. My vision has been to recontextualise their actions by placing audiences in the protesters' shoes as they grapple with what it means to be human in this pivotal moment, and the costs of standing up for what you believe in.
The film invites audiences to examine how their views of Just Stop Oil and protest in general were formed and to question why movements like this face such demonisation and criminalisation. I’ve sought to tell an emotional, human story, which offers a different lens to engage with the subject matter. I hope audiences can take away a deeper political analysis of a result, perhaps reflecting on how the controversial nature of effective protest can be weaponised to crackdown on dissent. Ultimately, this repression silences not only activists but also the uncomfortable questions they raise about society's contradictions.