In 2023, a freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in the town of East Palestine in Ohio, USA. To prevent an explosion, officials decided to deliberately release the chemicals from the cars. For days, a toxic cloud hung over the town like a looming thunderstorm, and local residents soon began experiencing health impacts.
The story is retold through news footage and archival material: a sad tale of profit-hungry corporations and negligent policymakers that is characteristic of contemporary America. We see how this small town becomes a pawn in national politics. Donald Trump—at the time a presidential candidate running for a second term—seizes the opportunity for a cynical PR moment in the town, even though his previous administration had scrapped the very regulations designed to prevent such disasters. Joe Biden, meanwhile, is booed for his delayed and weak response.
A Derailment presents all this in a dry, sometimes slightly comical manner, but anger always simmers beneath the surface of the montage—because despite all the media attention, nothing at all changes for the victims of this environmental disaster.
