Boys State (film)

The film focuses on four participants in the program:^[2]

• Ben Feinstein, a crafty white boy from San Antonio and bilateral amputee with conservative views who runs for Federalist Party State Chairman^[3]
• Robert MacDougall, a jockish, jocular white boy from Austin with right-wing views who runs for Nationalist Party Governor^[4]
• Steven Garza, a soft-spoken Hispanic boy from a working-class family with progressive views who runs for Nationalist Party Governor^[4]
• René Otero, a highly charismatic black boy from Chicago with progressive views who runs for Nationalist Party State Chairman^[4]
• Eddy Proietti Conti, a sharp, congenial, and well-read boy who is elected Governor.^[5]

The film follows a thousand teenage boys attending Boys State in Austin, Texas, coming together to build a representative government from the ground up, from all different political backgrounds, navigating challenges of organizing political parties, consensus, and campaigning for the highest office at Boys State, Governor of Texas.^[6]

The boys arrive for the program, where they are randomly divided into two parties, the Nationalists and Federalists. Those wishing to run for governor seek to collect 30 signatures to get on the primary ballot. In the Nationalist party: MacDougall does so easily; Garza manages to reach the threshold just before the deadline. Otero delivers a powerful speech and is elected state chairman for the Nationalists; he is subject to an impeachment motion that easily fails. In the Federalist party, Feinstein, who had planned on running for governor decides not to after meeting Proietti Conti (they are in the same "city" or dormitory) and is elected state chairman for the Federalists. In the Nationalist primaries, Garza delivers a sincere speech, but questions arise among conservative voters about his past participation in March for Our Lives, as well as his views on abortion and immigration policies. MacDougall positions himself as a conservative, hiding his true beliefs, but he comes across as less passionate and loses the race to Garza.

Meanwhile, the Federalists have elected Proietti Conti as their gubernatorial candidate. In the general election, the Federalists launch a meme page, starting a trend of political attack pages and digital meme warfare. However, the party dissociates itself from making any more meme pages after someone created a page that made a racist attack on Otero. Garza seems to be a promising candidate, but when Proietti Conti tries to conduct a Q&A during a speaking event Otero disallows it on the grounds that it had not been specifically requested prior. Feinstein uses that to accuses Otero of bias in the next forum. The boys cast their votes, and Proietti Conti is elected governor.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020.^[7] Shortly after, A24 and Apple acquired distribution rights to the film for $12 million.^[8][9] The film was set to screen at South by Southwest on March 13, 2020, but the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10][11] It was released on Apple TV+ on August 14, 2020, after its UK release at Sundance London 2020 Online on August 9.^[12]