Channel 4’s The Cult of Conspiracy: QAnon — a crash course in the politically unhinged

Is there a juicier topic for an apocalyptic documentary than QAnon, the online gathering of crackpots and conspiracy theorists that, after the election of Donald Trump, swelled and spilled into the real world? Certainly, we have not been short of such programmes this year with Cullen Hoback’s Q: Into The Storm, Amazon’s QAnon: The Search for Q and, more loosely, the BBC’s Four Hours at the Capitol all vying for our attention. As such, Channel 4’s effort, The Cult of Conspiracy: QAnon, feels a little slow on the uptake as it gives viewers a crash course in the politically unhinged. Much of this one-off film feels like QAnon 101 for Brits, although, for those not yet au fait with this still-growing movement, it will doubtless make for eye-watering viewing.

It is presented by the film-maker Ben Zand, who criss-crosses America to meet diehard Q followers — many of whom claim with a straight face that Michelle Obama is a man, Donald Trump is a prophet, and underneath Washington there is a network of tunnels in which thousands of children are kept for the gratification of paedophile Democrats. There is much talk of a “cabal”, an ill-defined group which worships Satan, eats babies and, according to one of Zand’s case studies, comprises “the one per cent of the one per cent which includes the Vatican and the monarchies.” All of these characters have spent the last few years in thrall to a shadowy figure called Q who is said to post cryptic clues and prophecies known as “Q drops” online, but who has disappeared since the Capitol riots.

While some of Zand’s case studies provoke little more than a resigned shrug, others elicit something close to sympathy as they are given the space to tell their stories which invariably involve trauma or feelings of marginalisation. Such moments offer insight into how conspiracy theories gain traction.

Less successful is the presenter’s attempt to draw a line between QAnon followers in the US and British anti-vaxxers. His final interviewee is Kate Shemirani, the former nurse and conspiracy theorist who made comments about doctors and nurses being “hung” at an anti-lockdown protest in London last summer, prompting a police investigation, and who talks here about her plans to move into politics. It’s a fine line between investigating those spreading disingenuous ideas and amplifying them. In this instance, The Cult of Conspiracy finds itself on the wrong side.

★★☆☆☆

On Channel 4 on December 7 at 9pm

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