Democracy Noir Review – Expose Presents How Anti-Woke Politics Are Rising in Europe

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Wednesday, 03 September 2025 12:19

Written by Janet Walker

Democracy Noir, from Clarity Films, brings to the screen a haunting and historical documentary on the rise of modern day fascism in Hungary, and how the extreme views have been embraced by the United States Conservative party.

The documentary introduces a time, before the election of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán when there was a balance in society, media outlets reported on the usual news stories, including governmental corruption, and other issues including LGBTQ rights, progressive politics, and as a landlocked country, news from around the Continent and international news.

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We also meet thee woman, a journalist, a politician, and a nurse, each who see life in Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, slowly fading away through a series of laws enacted by Orbán's ultra conservative Fidesz party.

Much of what the people of Hungary are experiencing is very similar to the anti-woke or ultra conservative movement in the United States. However, as Hungary is a member nation of the European Union, the documentary includes footage of fellow EU nation members speaking against the rising tide of fascism in Hungary.

Much of the documentary focuses on Viktor Orbán as he dismantles Hungary's democratic institutions. We also see the polarization of politics and political agendas, especially as the European Union continues to impress upon Orban and his government, as a member nation of the EU, there are rules, to which Orban hears, but rules differently.

We are introduced to life both as a female, an activist, an LGBTQ representative, and a nurse, and we walk through their lives and see the deep disparities between those who live in the castles and those who live and work for the people. The award winning journalist, Babett, an LGBTQ member, has lost her media, as Orban has attempted to silence the opposition, and close any media that presents opposing viewpoints.

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Nikoletta, a nurse explains, medical personnel are barely making a livable wage, and while the EU promised funding to Hungary to upgrade hospitals, staffing, supplies and equipment, they have yet to see any of that money. We tour the hospital and see crumbling buildings, personal shortages, archaic equipment, and general decay of the premises.

More when monies are received, contracts are reworked to build large museums or stadiums, funneling the money to Orban's families construction companies, and then destroying the landscape, and paving "paradise to put up a parking lot," as Joni Mitchell once wrote, or in this case, a stadium.

The opposition politician the documentary focuses on meets us as the film opens, and we see Timea dismayed over the loss of the recent election. She explains it has been four days and today was the first day she was even able to get up and confront the loss. So dedicated to her cause she is unable to comprehend what the people of Hungary are thinking. Throughout the film, we see she faces the same disinformation campaign, slander, and lies, that have become the norm in the political arena, and for her, she was called a spy, working for the CIA, in essence a traitor. Her campaign was derailed.

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Prime Minister Orban is seen as a hero to his country's Christian conservative population and a role model to the right-wing political movement in Europe and to Donald Trump and the Republicans in United States - Orbán takes carefully crafted, methodical steps to chip away at Hungarian democratic institutions while maintaining popularity with a majority of citizens.

Through the lives of our three subjects, we see a deeper portrait of how Orbán has, over the past decade, strategically destabilized the country's democratic institutions for financial gain, while enjoying widespread support from Hungarian nationalists. Similar trends can be seen in other parts of the world, with autocracies emerging in Brazil, Turkey, Belarus, Serbia and in the United States - where Orbán is being hailed as a political success and inspiration.

Democracy Noir expose the worldwide rise in ultra conservative politics, and unfortunately in Europe, the extremes measures are seen as the rise of fascism. When a leader denies the population access to a fair media, the people only see one viewpoint.

For many the problems with the opposition focuses on monies, and as we see in the end of the documentary the CPAC convention was recently held in Budapest, which is a lovely city, and it was inundated with southern Baptist Christians who explain what Orban is doing is stopping the advancement of ideologies that will erode society.

Aligning himself with Trump allows for Hungray to receive monies from the United States, and while some of the funds many never see the intended use, there is the possibility that some of it will arrive at its intended destination, or at least that is what the people are hoping. An opposition party is unsettling, as the status quo is known and while it may be challenge for many, they can navigate easier what they know and understand. And for now, that is Orban.

Democracy Noir can be seen exclusively in theaters September 5, 2025.

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Country: U.S.

Language: Hungarian, English with English subtitles.

Runtime: 93 minutes.

Release date: September 5, 2025.

Director: Connie Field.

Producer: Sigrid Dyekjær, Connie Field.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has completed the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," are available on Amazon. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.