IT really was only a matter of time before Michael Moore turned his glaring cinematic spotlight on Donald Trump. And the result is every bit the kind of film you might expect from a documentarian who, love him or hate him, gets his points across in fire-stoking yet wholly accessible fashion.

You almost trip over the title of his latest film which flips the reference point of his 2004 documentary from the date of the September 11 attacks to the date when Trump’s election victory was officially announced.

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In uneven but fittingly rousing, vehemently anti-Trump fashion, Moore’s film seeks to dig into the gloomy political and social landscape that led to that most unlikely (or inevitable, depending on your viewpoint) of men landing in the highest office in the land.

The director’s trademark wryness greets us at the door, not least when he blames Trump’s initial decision to run on none other than Gwen Stefani. Why? She was paid more than Trump for a TV appearance, causing him to stage the publicity stunt of a fake presidency announcement which ultimately led to the real thing.

Moore traverses down a series of avenues in trying to understand why this man is in power and the impact of his subsequent rhetoric on an increasingly divided nation.

This includes not only a fastidious exploration of the 2016 election – specifically Hillary Clinton being chosen over Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee and her eventual loss – but also a more personal touch from closer to home.

In an extended segment he examines the infamous water crisis in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, which led to thousands of children suffering lead poisoning. It’s here where Moore manages to provide an uncharacteristic dose of balance when he condemns President Obama for a misguided, disheartening TV stunt in which he drank a glass of tap water to prove its safeness.

The film tackles a big, messy subject and while that gets the better of it at times there’s nevertheless a determined, angry fire raging underneath which makes for compelling viewing.

Even when you think Moore’s succumbing to easy political opinions, namely a comparison between Trump’s rule and Hitler’s Third Reich, he goes about it in ways that feel freshly potent and contextualised. His lending of the stage to the rallying cries of the Parkland school shooting survivors also gives the film a welcome hopeful light in the darkness.

As with all his work it requires you more or less to share his general viewpoint. But there’s no denying the heartfelt passion behind Moore’s argument or the attention-grabbing ways he goes about making it as he willingly stands neck deep in murky waters.