Boys State (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, August 14

PG-13 Running Time: 109 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • One of 2020’s best documentaries and films.

  • Memorable characters, compelling drama, and lasting emotional connections, Boys State delivers all the goods commonplace with a great documentary.

  • Balances optimism, cynicism, and take-no-prisoners gamesmanship and becomes a sobering look at how politics are less about issues and constituents, and more about personal wins and gains.

NO

  • Though it won’t matter in the context of this film, some have political fatigue and maybe just can’t with a movie like this right now.

  • Might cut a little too close to the quick and how manipulative and disingenuous politics and politicians can be, even as kids, even in a mock-political environment.

  • May reinforce a distrust and disdain many people have for our political system.


OUR REVIEW

Politics, and the gamesmanship of it all, takes center stage in Boys State, a fantastic documentary which embeds viewers for one week with more than 1,100 boys at the Texas State Capital in a mock-political convention during the summer of 2018. Directed by the husband-and-wife team of Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, this engrossing, compelling film arrives on the Apple TV+ platform and is one of 2020’s finest films.

This particular conference comes one year removed from what we learn was a large secessionist movement among a majority of attendees. Though anecdotal in its mention in the film, the secessionist story foreshadows a simmering radicalism ready to intertwine with the idealistic political hopes of Steven Garza. 17, a liberal member of the Latinx community, and a hopeful Boys State gubernatorial candidate, Garza is focused, kind, and driven to succeed. He sees politics as a way to get involved, make a difference, and help lives.

He will soon run up against two conservatives: Robert MacDougall, also interested in winning the Governor’s election, and Ben Feinstein, a campaign manager who sees politics as sport, with success defined by wins and losses. Oh, also…Ben doesn’t like to lose.

At first, McBaine and Moss step back and allow us to take in the process of a Boys State convention. The students are split into two parties - The Nationalists and The Federalists. For the duration of the week, primaries are held for a gubernatorial election, while attendees can run for other cabinet-level positions. Signatures must be gathered and campaign speeches must be written and given. Party leadership is established and voted on by members. At the end of the conference, a Cabinet of leaders is named, with the Governor’s race being the final signature moment.

Impressively, this gathering of 1,100 students whittles down to a focused handful, through great storytelling and terrific editing by Jeff Seymann Gilbert and Michael Vollmann. Joining the main characters is Rene Otero, an African-American who becomes the leader of The Nationalists and almost immediately faces call for his resignation and those pesky secession cries. Otero steals the film’s first half - stoic and unflappable - and fitfully funny and commanding with his desire to be a leader.

Sit-down interviews, combined with fly-on-the-wall-style cinematography quickly allows us to understand motivations and why Boys State is so important to these students. What’s fascinating is how easily we, as viewers, paintbrush Steven, Ben, Robert, and Rene with the presumptions that seem to be poisoning our political realities now.

If the hope is that future generations will move to less tribality and return to measured debate and discourse, Boys State will likely shock your system and render many of those hopes mute and obsolete. When one character reveals that they simply do not believe the things they are saying and are merely attempting to stir up people’s votes - our future may indeed look and feel doomed.

At all times possible, McBaine and Moss give space for the characters to develop before our eyes. Ben is a double amputee, who sees his struggles as not something that defines him, but what likely drives his sense of victory. Willing to win at almost all costs, Ben’s fearless and, perhaps not surprisingly, a natural in the role of running a political campaign.

The analogies to present-day politics cannot help but emerge. Though I struggled compartmentalizing my own biases on liberals and conservatives in politics, I commend Boys State for masterfully letting the characters build their own stories. Even if you disagree politically, these are kids who you cannot help but root for. They don’t know what they don’t know. And yet, watching them navigate through a pivotal week of their lives becomes a truly fascinating watch.

Bypassing theaters, Apple TV+ is a curious place for Boys State to land. The hope here is that it finds an audience. In the days and weeks after viewing it, I simply couldn’t shake one character’s reasons for tearing up or the journey that brought them. Ben’s cutthroat, button-pushing tactics are reflective of how current party politics play out in real life.

He has a future. But you hope Steven does as well.

Boys State makes a case that grassroots, tangible, doorstep politics (pre-COVID-19 of course) still has a place in this world. Gaining strength and impact the longer it goes, this is without a doubt a film we will likely be discussing as an awards-season contender in the coming months.

With strong emotions, fascinating characters, and a topical lens on the realities of today, McBaine and Moss’ film could not arrive at a more important or profound time - approximately 80 days from an already volatile 2020 Presidential Election.

CAST & CREW

Documentary Featuring: Steven Garza, Ben Feinstein, Robert MacDougall, Rene Otero

Director: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
Release Date: August 14, 2020
A24/Apple TV+