Let’s come right out and state the obvious. “Run, Hide, Fight: Infidels,” the new film produced by the right-wing website The Daily Wire, isn’t going to be the crossover action movie hit that the right has insisted mainstream audiences want — if only their entertainment diet weren’t limited to “woke” Hollywood content.
Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire and a producer of the film, said in August that this is the film “Hollywood refused to make.” Specifically, a film where Muslims are presented as the bad guys and, as he put it, “the type of folks who have perpetrated the vast majority of terror attacks on planet Earth and who are currently migrating en masse to the West with the help of a compliant left and now are infiltrating our institutions.”
Shapiro must view standard Hollywood fare as unsubtle political propaganda — because that’s what “Infidels” is. Despite decent action movie production values, its jackhammer political messaging will most likely limit its appeal to those already in the MAGA choir or teenage boys hooked on video games.
Perhaps the creators of “Infidels” think audiences are yearning for nonstop political signaling, because that’s what they provide.
The film centers on a small group of armed Muslim terrorists who invade fictitious Laughton University in Virginia and hold dozens of students and administrators hostage. Unsurprisingly, a good number of the hostages are cartoonishly portrayed as stock stereotypes.
In one of the opening scenes, far-left pro-Palestine student demonstrators have taken over the campus quad chanting “ICE Out, Gaza In” and “Free, Free Palestine.” The setup is so obvious they might as well wear T-shirts that read “Sitting Duck.” Throughout the film, there are signs and graffiti with the slogan “Zionism = Racism.” The anti-Zionist protesters come across as ignorant fools who are left dumbfounded and near-speechless when confronted by a pro-Israel student.
An angry young woman with purple hair (naturally) leads the protesters along with her effeminate male sidekick (naturally) who later reveals he is gay. She describes what I assume to be the occupant of the Oval Office as the “colonial-minded dictator in chief.” She pledges solidarity with her Black and brown brothers and sisters. She demands that her college “denounce the apartheid government of Israel” and replace the name of the school’s athletic team (the Saints) with something “less triggering.” It felt like all of the political bases got touched in one short, heavily expository monologue. Then the villainous Muslim characters start their vicious campus killing spree, including almost every prominent “woke” character.
In one scene, the effeminate protester admits to the lead terrorist that he’s gay, only to be immediately thrown off the roof of a campus building. His female companion, who created the school’s Muslim Solidarity Union, then gets her throat slit by the same terrorist. In another scene, a terrorist pulls off the face mask of what appears to be a woman, only to be confronted by a man in makeup with a five o’clock shadow. Minutes later, the man is hanging on a campus flagpole, apparently wrapped in a Pride flag.
When former Marvel Cinematic Universe star Jonathan Majors, playing a minor role as a retired Delta Force captain, visits the campus to promote his book, he tells a packed student auditorium about the three ways Islam conquers the West: through the wombs of its women, through immigration and by turning the America’s freedoms against its people. He concludes his presentation with what is essentially a call to arms — warning students they can’t run or hide. “We have to fight,” he advises.
If Stephen Miller ever sees this film, it will undoubtedly be his favorite part.
Perhaps the creators of “Infidels” think audiences are yearning for nonstop political signaling, because that’s what they provide. The insufferably liberal mayor of the college town implausibly refuses to call in city cops to deal with the campus hostage situation and instead proposes a task force to tackle the systemic causes of the campus tragedy. An Egyptian (read: Muslim) student comes across as a dork for complaining about loud music blaring from a nearby dorm room where his fellow (non-Muslim) students are partying. A racist crack about an Asian student’s superior skill with computers lands with a thud. There are also slightly more subtle swipes at climate change and abortion.
Nonetheless, there are some surprising elements in the film. A small band of students executes the near-impossible task of overtaking the heavily armed, well-trained terrorists. I expected them to spout MAGA talking points as they blossomed into mini-Rambos, but instead they were politically neutral throughout the film. Just average students, not even members of ROTC or Turning Point USA.
I also anticipated a collaboration of sorts between the anti-Zionist campus demonstrators and the terrorists, since they shared a hatred of Israel. That never happened. It’s questionable whether the entire storyline about the protesters was needed to propel the plot. They appear to exist solely as a device for the producers to show their political foolishness.
Voices on the right have long said there’s a wide market for conservative forms of entertainment, if only they weren’t thwarted by left-leaning Hollywood powers. Well, here’s their big show. But because it’s so heavy-handed and belligerently partisan, it stands virtually no chance of entertaining anyone but the converted. Enjoy the show, MAGA faithful.
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