Full Breakdown
Inside “We the Hated”: A Close-up of Just Stop Oil’s Tactics and Fallout
By Drooid · · How we work
The Documentary’s Core Depiction
*We the Hated* follows filmmaker Rich Felgate as he embeds with Just Stop Oil activists, including his partner Indigo Rumbelow. The camera captures road blockades, glue-ins, and protesters linking bike locks around their necks. “middle-class wankers”) and, in one instance, a van driver attempts to run through the crowd. The film also records a driver calling the demonstrators “children.”
Recent Direct-Action Highlights
The film revisits several high-profile actions: in October 2022, campaigners tossed tomato soup at Van Gogh’s *Sunflowers*; a vicar with Parkinson’s is shown taking medication before being cuffed; and activists repeatedly target infrastructure rather than fossil-fuel sites, a strategy the documentary suggests sacrifices broader public goodwill.
Key Participants Featured
- Indigo Rumbelow – Just Stop Oil activist whose household shelves hold books on the suffragettes and Gandhi, illustrating ideological influences.
- Just Stop Oil spokespeople – appear on television, defending disruptive tactics as necessary given the climate emergency.
Legal Outcomes for Protesters
Following the escalation of actions, the documentary notes that several activists, including Rumbelow, have been arrested and sentenced to the longest-ever prison terms in England for non-violent protest. No specific lengths are provided in the source.
Political and Public Reactions
The film juxtaposes activist arguments—that the planet faces an urgent crisis—with criticism from media figures such as Piers Morgan, who claim the tactics drown out the message. The documentary links the group’s visibility to Labour’s 2024 election win and its pledge to halt new oil and gas licences, while noting that the recent approval of the Jackdaw North Sea gasfield does not technically breach that pledge.
Overall, *We the Hated* presents a contested picture of climate activism: disruptive methods that generate both heightened media attention and intensified public hostility, raising questions about the balance between urgency and public support.