The Atomic Cafe

Synopsis

Footage from the Trinity Test opens The Atomic Cafe, a documentary directed by Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader, and Pierce Rafferty. The film compiles clips from newsreels, military training films, and advertisements produced in the United States during the Cold War. It presents how the U.S. government used propaganda to downplay the dangers of nuclear weapons. The documentary features various figures, including Lyndon Johnson and Nikita Khrushchev, and captures the absurdity of training exercises that instructed soldiers to walk into a nuclear cloud. The film concludes with a montage simulating a nuclear attack on the United States.