4.5/5 stars Thanks to the Mueller inquiry, much has justifiably been written about Russia’s alleged involvement in Donald Trump’s surprise 2016 United States presidential election win. But in Fahrenheit 11/9 , the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore focuses on the domestic issues that drove US citizens to vote for Trump, rather than meddling by foreign powers. The film is a multifaceted video essay, and many of the points he makes will shock viewers unfamiliar with the US political system, the country’s deep social problems (which include hardship and poverty) and its population demographics. For instance, Moore notes that the rigging of the Democratic presidential nomination by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in favour of Hillary Clinton rather than Bernie Sanders effectively lost the election for the Democrats – many Sanders supporters where so disgusted by the actions of the DNC they chose to abstain rather than vote for Clinton. What’s more, Moore warns that it’s dangerous to dismiss Trump as a political idiot, showing that he has a time-proven strategy for keeping power. Moore spends time examining everything from the hubris of Clinton supporters to the anachronisms of the US Electoral College. But his central point is that the Democratic Party has consistently ignored the needs of its poor and working-class base – it has effectively become another version of the Republican Party, and its primary allegiance is now to the banks and the rich. Moore shows that even Barack Obama did very little for the poor, the working class – and African-Americans. Many Trump voters, Moore notes, are blue-collar workers who feel that they have been betrayed by the two main parties and the political system. When Trump lied to them about challenging the system and making their lives great again, they were happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. Moore’s brusque finale notes how Trump could use his appeal to tip the US into autocracy or even fascism. Democracy, he notes, depends on voters making choices, and to make choices, voters need to have access to reliable information. One technique of aspiring dictators is to get voters to mistrust the press, and Trump’s strategy of labelling the press as purveyors of fake news means that his supporters think any negative news they read about him is a lie. Godzilla II: King of the Monsters film review Moore also makes the point that those who are personally revolted by Trump fail to realise that his followers find him charismatic, and revere him as a saviour. In spite of a resurgent and increasingly popular progressive wing in the Democratic Party – which appeals to many of the working-class voters who voted for Trump – US politics is driven by personality rather than policy, and that make Trump’s grip on power very tight. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook.