Final Rating: 4/5
In today’s digital age where everyone can be connected in an instant, find communities for anything regardless how niche it might be and have the entire world’s history just a few clicks away, it shockingly has not turned out the way the inventors of the internet likely thought.
Gimme Truth, directed by Brad Abrahams and Simon Ennis (The Hobby), might be one of the most infuriating and frustrating films I’ve watched in a long while, and it is all the better for it. The film follows a group of New Age leaders, each with their own flavour of crazy.
One of the main subjects is Arcturus Ra, an African American army brat born in Germany. He began his career as a conscious rapper. In the mid 00’s when YouTube was invented, he started uploading videos with direct addresses about opening your mind and typical anti-government screeds. When this caught on, he slowly started morphing into a New Age leader. He now sells pendants with sand that has been activated with photons to gullible people who think it has healing properties as he continues uploading nonsense videos.
There is some hope in the film though. It mostly comes from journalist Jon Ronson who tracks the rise from run of the mill conspiracy theorists. After 9/11, conspiracy theorists took root and quickly became a lot more irrational and unhinged leading eventually to the birth Q Anon.
The film highlights a serious problem with society, education and the internet as the world continues to be torn apart by those who live in reality and those who wish to live in ignorance, hatred and a desire to hold back society from all its potential. This film won’t make anyone become an ex-conspiracy theorist, but it will help connect the dots for those with a sane mind.
Gimme Truth was seen during the 2026 Hot Docs film festival. Thank you to Route504 for the screener.
