ComingSoon is excited to debut a Shot in the Arm clip from the upcoming vaccine documentary from executive producer Neil deGrasse Tyson and director Scott Hamilton Kennedy and share the theatrical release details. The film began documenting the 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa and then shifted to covering COVID-19 pandemic as well, with a specific focus on how disinformation can threaten democracy. Tyson calls the film “a vital rung in a ladder of science literacy that we all must ascend, lest civilization teeter on the brink of collapse from its absence.”

Shot in the Dark initially premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Its theatrical release will begin on November 3, 2023, at the iconic Angelika Film Center in New York City and on November 17 at Los Angeles’ Laemmle Cinemas, which will both include Q&As with filmmakers Tyson and Kennedy. It will then expand to other markets across North America. Tickets and more information can be found on the film’s website.

Watch an exclusive clip featuring RFK Jr.

Our exclusive Shot in the Arm clip features Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being asked about the Samoa measles outbreak in 2019, which resulted in 5,707 cases and 83 deaths. RFK Jr. immediately goes on the defensive and responds, “I had nothing to do with people not vaccinating in Samoa. I never told people not to vaccinate. I didn’t go there for any reason to go with that.” The documentary then shows a meeting between RFK Jr. and Samoan anti-vax blogger Taylor Winterstein, alongside news coverage of the impact that anti-vaccination campaigns had on the outbreak.

Check out the Shot in the Arm clip below:

“In the spring of 2019, before anyone had heard of COVID-19, Kennedy began investigating a global measles epidemic and filming with top public health officials–including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, MD; Karen Ernst; Dr. Paul A. Offit, MD; Dr. Peter J. Hotez, MD; Blima Marcus, DNP –as well as rare verite and interviews with anti-vaccine activists – like Robert Kennedy, Jr. (charting his part in Samoa’s tragic measles outbreak of 2019 and as he continues to garner GOP funding for a Democrat presidential bid today), Andrew Wakefield, and Del Bigtree – who were persuading parents by the millions to refuse vaccines for their children,” says the official description.

“Then COVID-19 happened. Acting quickly, Kennedy shifted his directorial eye to this once-in-a-century tragedy, as his family was caught in the maelstrom of COVID-19. Both skeptical and hopeful, Shot in the Arm explores the cultural zeitgeist of vaccine hesitancy historically and in the context of the current COVID pandemic and how disinformation is its own disease. Can we replace cynicism with healthy curiosity and bridge the political divides that make us sick?”

A Black Valley Films production, Shot in the Arm is written and directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. It is produced by Kennedy, Mark Monroe, and Mark Steele. It features cinematography by Derek Wiesehahn (Taxman) and Kennedy, and editing by Alex Blatt (Watchmen), Yaffa Lerea (Project RUnway), Timothy C. O’Neill (Rebound), and Kennedy.