Boys State

Boys State is a documentary about a summer program run by the American Legion in Texas, where around 1,100 teenage boys gather to build a mock government from the ground up. Over the course of a week, the participants form political parties, run for office and campaign for votes, dividing into two rival factions that compete for control of the invented state. The film follows several of the boys closely as they navigate alliances, speeches and elections, and as their ambitions and differing views on politics come to the surface.

Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine directed and produced the film together. It was the first feature the pair made as a directing team, ahead of The Mission, Girls State, War Game and Teenage Wasteland, with McBaine sitting out War Game. Those later projects, including Girls State, continued the filmmakers' interest in young people and civic life. The documentary runs 110 minutes and features Ben Feinstein, Steven Garza, Robert MacDougall, René Otero and Eddy Proietti Conti, all appearing as themselves.

Released in January 2020, the film drew a much larger audience than most documentaries. On IMDb it holds a 7.6 rating from roughly 6,200 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.1 from around 116 votes, a narrower sample that nevertheless lands in similar territory.