Drinking water must be maintained by all standards, but the political system has another point of view. The political system has been accused of wasting drinking water and contaminating it with chemicals, leading to the overthrow of the regime and the entry of many politicians into corruption cases.
Hoback's a thorough researcher, and there's no denying that the questions raised in his doc-and the lack of concrete answers from public officials-should be of grave concern.
Director Cullen Hoback may follow the standard Michael Moore playbook a little too closely-remember when documentary filmmakers mainly stayed behind the camera?-but the levels of malfeasance that he uncovers are genuinely impressive.
Hoback does an impressive job of methodically building his case. And he's every bit as adroit when it comes to fashioning, over the course of his film, an insightful account of two intriguing players in this ongoing real-life drama.
National Catholic Reporter
April 13, 2018
It seems to me that this timely new film establishes that the current attention given to Pruitt's living situation in Washington, D.C., and pay raises for officials in the EPA, are miniscule compared to the environmental disaster ahead.
By acknowledging what isn't known about drinking water, but what should be illuminated about the mechanism behind it, "What Lies Upstream" proves an exemplary piece of advocacy filmmaking.
