From the acclaimed director of American Movie and The Yes Men, Chris Smith, comes Collapse, an acclaimed documentary portrait of radical thinker, Michael Ruppert, who explores his apocalyptic vision of the future, spanning the crisis in economics, energy, environment and more.

Ruppert is a controversial author and former LA police officer who predicted the current financial crisis in his self-published newsletter From the Wilderness. He vehemently believes in the inevitable destruction of industrialised civilisation as we know it.

Filmed in a room that looks like a bunker, Ruppert sits alone in a chair, chain-smoking cigarettes and waxing lyrical on his belief that the world is doomed and we must be prepared. With his practiced and commanding rhetorical style, he recounts his career and spells out the disaster he sees ahead with his unnervingly persuasive world-view. He spouts forth passionately over the issue of 'peak oil' the concern raised by scientists since the 1970s that the world will eventually run out of oil and that life will change beyond all recognition. Using news reports and data that's available on the internet he applies a unique interpretation, portraying a future that resembles apocalyptic science fiction.

Smith treats his subject as both an exhibit and patient, letting the audience decide if he's paranoid or deluded or the genuine article. Ruppert comes across as an angry yet compassionate man; secure in his convictions but lost in his emotions. He may feel alone, but he now finally has an audience.

It may not sound like compelling cinema, but cop a look at this reaction to it from Roger Ebert: "I don't know when I've seen a thriller more frightening. I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen. Collapse is even entertaining, in a macabre sense. I think you owe it to yourself to see it." Interested? We certainly are.

Collapse will be released on UK DVD on 1st November 2010 by Dogwoof. Extra features include:

• Trailer;
• Deleted scenes;
• 2010 Update.