Synopsis
This raucous journey into the heart of democracy captures an unusual rite of passage: 1,100 teenage boys from across Texas coming together to build a representative government from the ground up.
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Cast
- Ben FeinsteinSelf
- Steven GarzaSelf
- Robert MacDougallSelf
- René OteroSelf
- Eddy Proietti ContiSelf
Recommendations
- 100
Slashfilm
Smart, entertaining, darkly comic and profoundly unsettling, Boys State is simply brilliant. - 100
The Guardian
It’s not clear if it’s funny or tragic, if it’s reality TV or reality itself. But Boys State is as exciting and moving as Steve James’s high school basketball epic Hoop Dreams was a generation ago, with its emotional rawness, its guileless patriotism and capacity for hurt and wonder. - 91
The Film Stage
What makes Boys State so compelling is it appeals both to the most cynical and hopeful of viewers. - 90
Screen Daily
A compelling political campaign chronicle and an incisive allegory of American democracy, Boys State is also much more fun that you’d expect. - 80
The New Yorker
Boys State will leave you alternately cheered and alarmed at the shape of things to come. - 75
IndieWire
The filmmakers illustrate that governmental power is a fickle thing, prone to exploitation and good will alike, depending on who decides to pursue its offices. - 75
The Playlist
Although Boys State provides its four leads some talking-head reflection moments, the documentary is largely verité and linear. This gives the project a decidedly honest and organic feeling, but yet it does slow it down at times, depriving it of momentum. - 75
Slant Magazine
The film suggests that our political system is a popularity contest that functions for no one but those jockeying for power.
