Homegrown

An unexpectedly nuanced cinema verité portrait emerges in Michael Premo’s look at three impassioned right-wing activists. Having won their trust in the lead-up to the 2020 election, the Brooklyn filmmaker follows them through election night, the January 6 riot, and beyond. Contradictions abound—Thad (from Texas) attends Trump rallies with Black Lives Matter activist Jacarri; Chris (from New Jersey) participates in a Back the Blue march yet charges the line of police defending the Capitol—but their commitment to a particular red, white, and blue vision of America can’t be denied. Each is a combustible mix of delusional cosplayer, stalwart patriot, and potential threat, with the line between blood and bluster further blurred by cameos from Enrique Tarrio and Roger Stone. For all its madness, January 6 isn’t the film’s climax but a turning point in its protagonists’ political and personal evolutions. Yet the chant echoes: “I am a Western chauvinist/And I refuse to apologize/For creating the modern world/We’re all Proud Boys.”