"Getting here certainly gave me a new appreciation for why politicians lie to get into office," says Robert, a teenager running for governorinthe documentary "Boys State."
Ben, another teen with a pivotal role in the movie, shares this thoughts on campaign tactics: "You have to use personal attacks and you have to find divisive issues in order to differentiate yourself at all."
"Boys State," which arrives Friday on the streaming site Apple TV+, is the most importantpolitical movie of 2020, because it forces viewers to considerthe current political system's impact on young Americans.
A grand jury prize winner at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, the documentary focuses on the Texas portionof the Boys State leadership campsthat are sponsored each year by the American Legion. Past events have helped shape future leaders likeformer President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, among others.
The movie chronicles how Boys State, which draws 1,100 teens together,splits participants randomly into two political partiesand then assigns them the tasks of drafting party platforms and nominating a slate of candidates, with thehighestoffice being governor.
Steven, one of the four main teens profiled by the new documentary 'Boys State.'(Photo: [PHOTO PROVIDED BY SUNDANCE INSTITUTE / THORSTEN THIELOW])
Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Mosspaint vivid portraits of campers as they do everything from calling for secession to vowing their masculinity won't be infringed. There's also a suggestion floated toban certain pizza toppings.
But the overall mood is surprisingly serious as the teens must decide what they will or won't do in order to succeed politically.
One of the goals of doing a film about Boys State and its participants, according to Moss, was finding out "to what extent were the norms of political discourse of our current moment influencing their behavior, their conduct, and contaminating it, if you will."
The movie focuses mostly on four teens who land key roles in the campaign process. Ben, a political junkie and Reagan fan,emerges as a fierce party leader who sees his job as doing what is necessary to win.Robert, a confident, outgoing candidate for the gubernatorial nomination, talks like a conservative, but heisn't actually as right-wing as his speeches would indicate.
There's also Rene, theparty chairman and persuasive orator who's one of the few Black participants amongthe mostly white campers.Renebecomes the target of aracist online postand faces apush by a small number of party members to impeach him, an effort that feels like a microcosm of delegitimizing effortslike birtherism that Barack Obama endured as the first African-American president.
'Boys State' looks at the 2018 edition of the leadership camp in Texas where high school seniors gather to build their own mock state governments.(Photo: APPLE)
The hopeful heart of the movie is Steven, an earnest candidate for governor who comes from a modest background and whose mother was at one time an undocumented immigrant.
While impressing his fellow teens with his willingness to seek compromise in a polarized environment, Steven also is attacked by Second Amendment hardliners for having been involved witha "March for Our Lives" event organized as a response to the Parkland school shooting and for backing moderate reforms in gun control.
Out of all of the issuesimpacting on their future lives, the teens seem to spend the most time arguing two hot-button topicsguns and abortion.
"Boys State" can be something of a Rorschach test of a viewer's own thoughts on where democracy is heading.
"It does function to some degree, I think, as a measure of your own optimism or cynicism about our future and our politics," says Moss.
Describing his personal take-way from the project, Moss says,"It's made me very hopeful to see young men like Steven and Rene navigate that space successfully, to find their voice, to summon the better angels of the electorate, to go as far as they did to build power."
McBaine and Mossdon'tshy away from examining the play-to-win tactics at Boys State, the same ones that are are having such a corrosive effect on contemporary politics. But they're also sensitive to the pressures of growing up as part of Generation Z and dealing with things like social media and negative memes.
"Gen Z, way more than all of us ... they don't know a world without social media, so they're a little bit steeled to it in a way that I'm not, but also (they're) internalizing it in a way I find a little scary," says McBaine. "There's an anxiety that (social media) produces, a layer of anxiety on top of all the other existential threats they're facing like climate change. They're shouldering a lot."
According to the filmmakers, "Boys State" ultimately shows the value of bringing young people together to discuss politics and to learn that it's possible to worktogether with someone who doesn't share your point of view.
The movie isa chance "to think about, how do we create healthier spaces for people to engage with each other, people who might come from different backgrounds and have different politics," says Moss.
"We can't expect that to happen suddenly in Washington if it doesn't happen earlier in our lives."
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
"Boys State"
Available for streaming Friday on Apple TV+
Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/movies/julie-hinds/2020/08/13/boys-state-documentary-movie-apple-tv/3346952001/
Go here to see the original:
'Boys State' movie on Apple TV+ is best political film of 2020 and here's why - Detroit Free Press
- Forget the tired franchises, a new wave of horror movies will make us jump out of our seats - The Guardian - July 17th, 2024
- Surprise horror hit Longlegs raises the question, is Oregon safe to live in? - OregonLive - July 17th, 2024
- House of the Dragon star unrecognisable in hair-raising new horror movie - Express - July 17th, 2024
- Monster Summer trailer: Mel Gibson family horror film reaches theatres in October - JoBlo.com - July 17th, 2024
- Is Longlegs Really the Scariest Movie of the Year? - Decider - July 17th, 2024
- Terrifier, Scream Included in Spirit Halloweens New Horror Movie Babies Collection - ComingSoon.net - July 17th, 2024
- Is Longlegs Really That Scary? Inside the Horror Movie's Gruesome Twists and Turns (Spoilers!) - PEOPLE - July 17th, 2024
- Is the Next Jay and Silent Bob Sequel Going to Be a Horror Movie? - Cracked.com - July 17th, 2024
- Christian Bales Upcoming Horror Movie Can Help Pay Off The Actor's Divisive Superhero Movie - Screen Rant - July 17th, 2024
- Longlegs Star Alicia Witt Recalls Being Gently Slapped by Al Pacino During Scare on 88 Minutes (Exclusive) - Us Weekly - July 17th, 2024
- Longlegs Scores Highest Opening Weekend for an Original Horror Movie This Year - Bloody Disgusting - July 17th, 2024
- A four-star horror movie? Expertly crafted Longlegs achieves the impossible - St. Paul Pioneer Press - July 17th, 2024
- Psycho stars son directs Nicolas Cage in this creepy new horror movie - Sydney Morning Herald - July 17th, 2024
- Nicolas Cage's new horror movie Longlegs is certainly terrifying, but not in the ways you were probably expecting - Gamesradar - July 17th, 2024
- Chilling haunted doll horror movie with 100% Rotten Tomatoes score drops this week - Dexerto - July 17th, 2024
- Osgood Perkins Gets Into the Family Business With Longlegs - Vulture - July 17th, 2024
- Kevin Smith's Next Jay And Silent Bob Outing Could Be A Horror Movie - SlashFilm - July 17th, 2024
- House of the Dragon star unrecognisable in snaps from chilling new horror movie - The Mirror - July 17th, 2024
- Exploring the genius (and terror) of the 'Longlegs' marketing campaign - Euronews - July 17th, 2024
- Longlegs Ending Explained: Digging Into The Dark Mystery In The Nicolas Cage Horror Movie - CinemaBlend - July 17th, 2024
- A True Story Inspired The Horror Movie Open Water - SlashFilm - June 20th, 2024
- Horror Movies In Theaters This Weekend - FANGORIA - June 20th, 2024
- 'Lumina' Trailer - Alien Abduction Horror Movie Crash Lands in Theaters This July - Bloody Disgusting - June 20th, 2024
- The First Trailer For NOSFERATU Will Be Released This Weekend in Theaters GeekTyrant - GeekTyrant - June 20th, 2024
- 10 Best Horror Movies Of 2024 - Screen Rant - June 20th, 2024
- 20 Horror Movie Villains With Motives You'll Understand - The Pryor Information Publication - June 20th, 2024
- This Korean Horror Film Is One of the Scariest Movies of 2024 - CBR - June 20th, 2024
- Zazie Beetz Shines in Muschiettis Scary Movie They Will Kill You - Digital Chew - June 20th, 2024
- Scary Summer: Five Aquatic Horror Movies to Stream This Week - Bloody Disgusting - June 20th, 2024
- This Lovecraft Adaptation Has Some of the Best Practical Effects Ever in a Horror Movie - Collider - June 20th, 2024
- Forget Ghost Ship, Wes Craven Gave Us the Best Horror Opening - CBR - June 20th, 2024
- Nicolas Cage's New Horror Film Debuts With Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score and Stunning Reviews - CBR - June 20th, 2024
- Stephen King Called This Classic Scene the Scariest Moment in Horror History - Collider - June 20th, 2024
- Dark R-Rated Supernatural Horror Mystery Thriller One Of The Best In Years, Stream Without Netflix - Giant Freakin Robot - June 20th, 2024
- Kyra Sedgwick on Finding Freedom in Directing, Plans to Make a Horror Movie With Her Family, and That One Time She Was Jealous of Kevin Bacon -... - June 20th, 2024
- 'Circles' - Sequel to the 2015 Horror Movie 'Circle' in the Works - Bloody Disgusting - June 20th, 2024
- Sequel to one of the best horror movies of the decade gets amazing first trailer - Joe UK - June 20th, 2024
- 20 Most Anticipated Horror Movies Of 2025 - WhatCulture - June 20th, 2024
- Everything You Need to Know About the Alien: Romulus Release Date - Geeks World Wide - June 9th, 2024
- The Watchers Review: Dakota Fanning Horror Movie Is Heavy on Exposition - TheWrap - June 9th, 2024
- Mike Flanagan Promises His Exorcist Movie Will Be 'Really Scary' - MovieWeb - June 9th, 2024
- Isolated Horrors: Appreciating the 2012 Horror Movie 'ATM' - Bloody Disgusting - June 9th, 2024
- Star of new horror movie The Watched says it features things she's never seen in a film before - Gamesradar - June 9th, 2024
- New horror movie The Watched was inspired by one of the best supernatural thrillers and a very divisive 2009 horror - Gamesradar - June 9th, 2024
- Horror Movies in 2024 - Cineworld - June 9th, 2024
- This new horror movie told mostly from the killer's POV may not be destined to be a classic, but its innovation is very ... - Gamesradar - June 9th, 2024
- Best of the scariest: The top 10 horror movies of all time - Popverse - June 9th, 2024
- This Divisive 2024 Horror Movie With 91% On Rotten Tomatoes Is Finally Streaming - Screen Rant - June 9th, 2024
- The Watchers - Plugged In - June 9th, 2024
- The 6 Best Sci-fi and Horror Movies to Watch on Peacock for Pride Month 2024 - Syfy - June 9th, 2024
- Under Paris: Netflix has delivered one of the best shark movies ever made - The Guardian - June 9th, 2024
- 100 mins of unrelenting intense overwhelming dread say fans as new horror movie is SO scary people are le... - The Sun - June 9th, 2024
- New follow up to 'grotesque' Netflix horror movie that left viewers 'bothered for days' is on the way - LADbible - June 9th, 2024
- Munjya review: Dinesh Vijans latest horror-comedy is neither scary nor funny, goes downhill after 30 minutes - The Indian Express - June 9th, 2024
- 'In a Violent Nature': How this innovative Canadian horror movie hacked its way to success - Toronto Star - June 9th, 2024
- The 25 best Korean horror movies of all time, ranked - Entertainment Weekly News - June 9th, 2024
- Alien: Romulus Is Making Xenomorphs Scary Again And Its About Time - Giant Freakin Robot - June 9th, 2024
- 31 Friendly Creatures From Fantasy/Horror Movies And TV Shows - MSN - June 9th, 2024
- Best Horror Movies Of 2024 (So Far) - Time Out - May 20th, 2024
- The Best Horror Movies If You Loved The Strangers - CBR - May 20th, 2024
- The Smartest Horror Movie Heroes, Ranked - CBR - May 20th, 2024
- 15 Horror Movies So Controversial They Got Banned - CBR - May 20th, 2024
- Before 'Psycho,' This Is The Twisty Horror Thriller Hitchcock Wanted to Make - Collider - May 20th, 2024
- 10 Most Rewatchable Horror Movie From Each Year of the 2010s - Collider - May 20th, 2024
- Jaws and Hitchcock's Psycho inspired new horror movie The Strangers: Chapter 1, as director explains its lack of gore - Gamesradar - May 20th, 2024
- The monsters that made me: Growing up disabled, all of my heroes were villains - Polygon - May 20th, 2024
- Shocking Horror Movie The Coffee Table Is Earning Raves From Stephen King. Its Director Wants Audiences to Suffer and Hate Me - Variety - May 20th, 2024
- Netflix fans freak out over 'insanely scary' horror film that found its way into the top 10 - Daily Mail - May 20th, 2024
- 10 Best So-Bad-They're-Good Horror Movies of the '90s, Ranked - Collider - May 20th, 2024
- Making Sense of I Saw The TV Glow's Tragic and Terrifying Ending - TIME - May 20th, 2024
- New Horror Movie With 21% RT Score Nearly Triples Budget At The Box Office In Just 10 Days - Screen Rant - May 20th, 2024
- Sting director says he's "kind of remaking Alien" with the giant spider horror movie - Gamesradar - May 20th, 2024
- How Scary Is The Strangers: Chapter 1? It's R-Rating Explained - Screen Rant - May 20th, 2024
- New Upcoming Horror Movie Gives Five Nights At Freddy's 2 Its Biggest Rival After $291 Million Success - Screen Rant - May 20th, 2024
- 10 Impossible Horror Movie Kills (and the Visual Effects Behind Them) - CBR - May 20th, 2024
- 10 Most Satisfying Horror Movie Reveals - WhatCulture - May 20th, 2024
- Stephen King Reviews Horror Movie With 88% RT Score: "You Have Never Seen A Movie As Black As This" - Screen Rant - May 20th, 2024
- Wolf Man Producer Reveals If the Horror Movie Is Part of Universal's Dark Universe Franchise - CBR - May 20th, 2024
- Nicolas Cage is set to take on another horror movie, this time about Jesus? - Gamesradar - May 9th, 2024
- Horror Tips from Director Jeff Wadlow and the Set of 'Imaginary' - No Film School - May 9th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero