Faith, Fear, and the Politics of Control

Read Time:5 Minute, 9 Second

MOVIE REVIEWS
An American Pastoral (Une pastorale américaine)
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Genre: Documentary
Year Released: 2024, 2026
Runtime: 1h 58m
Director(s): Auberi Edler
Where to Watch: premieres via VOD & leading digital platforms on February 13, 2026

RAVING REVIEW: What does it look like when democracy doesn’t fall with an unforgettable impact, but instead erodes quietly and in full public view? AN AMERICAN PASTORAL asks that question not through narration or argument, but by standing still and letting the answer reveal itself over time. Set in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, the documentary observes a local school board race that gradually exposes how cultural grievance, religious extremism, and procedural manipulation can reshape public institutions long before most people realize what’s happening.

Auberi Edler approaches this story with a deliberately restrained, observational style. There’s no voiceover to guide, no talking heads to contextualize events, and no editorial hand reaching in to underline meaning. Instead, the film develops through meetings, conversations, door-to-door campaigning, and casual exchanges that slowly accumulate into something far more unsettling than a single election loss. What initially appears to be a dispute over library books and curriculum reveals itself as a struggle over who gets to define morality, truth, and belonging within a public school system.

One of the film’s most striking qualities is how patiently it allows the vision to emerge. The repetition of rhetoric, the framing of fear as protection, and the steady normalization of extremist language all happen incrementally. Edler’s camera doesn’t chase exhibition; it waits. That patience proves crucial, because the most alarming moments aren’t declarations or dramatic confrontations, but the ease with which ideas are introduced, repeated, and eventually treated as common sense. The documentary understands that power rarely reveals itself in that way, especially at the local level.

The focus on school board politics is what gives AN AMERICAN PASTORAL its strength. These meetings are often dismissed as bureaucratic or dull, yet the film makes clear the extent of their influence. Policies decided in these rooms shape not just curricula but also which identities are validated, which histories are acknowledged, and whose existence is considered acceptable. By narrowing its scope to one town, the documentary avoids abstraction and instead shows how national culture wars are enacted through bylaws, motions, and votes.

Edler’s approach places a great deal of trust in the audience, and for the most part, that trust is rewarded. People are allowed to speak freely, often revealing contradictions and hypocrisies without needing commentary. The camera lingers long enough for discomfort to settle in, especially as religious rhetoric is used to justify censorship and exclusion. The absence of overt judgment makes those moments land harder because the film never tells viewers what to think; it simply shows what is being said and by whom—and ultimately lets them decide for themselves.

There’s a chilling clarity in how the documentary captures the mechanics of extremism adapting to democratic systems. Rather than rejecting elections outright, the figures at the center of the film embrace them, learning how to work within established rules to gain control. It’s a reminder that democracy’s vulnerability often lies in its own processes, particularly when participation is low, and vigilance fades.

The film's emotional experience is intentionally muted, which can create a sense of distance. The people most directly affected by the policies being debated, particularly students, remain largely unheard. While this absence underscores how decisions about them are made without their input, it also limits the immediacy of the impact. The film is devastating on an intellectual level, but it rarely presses into the personal consequences in a way that fully humanizes those outcomes.

The cumulative effect, without question, is powerful. By the time the election’s outcome becomes clear, the result feels less like a surprise and more like an inevitability shaped by months of groundwork. AN AMERICAN PASTORAL isn’t interested in shock; it’s interested in process. It shows how fatigue, intimidation, and familiarity can wear down opposition, and how the language of “parental rights” and “community values” can mask far-reaching ideological agendas.

There are moments of resistance, of people organizing and speaking out, but they’re framed realistically, without romanticism. The film doesn’t suggest that awareness alone is enough, nor does it imply that this story is confined to one town. Instead, it presents Elizabethtown as a case study, a warning about how quickly the boundaries of acceptable discourse can shift when participation dwindles, and fear is weaponized.

AN AMERICAN PASTORAL succeeds because it understands that the most dangerous changes often happen under the guise of normalcy. Its calm approach mirrors the very environment it documents, where civility and procedure are used to advance exclusionary goals. By the end, the film leaves viewers with an unsettling recognition: democracy doesn’t always scream when it’s under threat. Sometimes, it looks exactly like this.

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[photo courtesy of FILM MOVEMENT]

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