Andrew Callaghan is best known for his YouTube videos where he interviews people with very large personalities who are also sometimes under the influence of various substances. I'm only a little familiar with his stuff, having seen a couple here and there, but the format was still recognizable in this feature-length documentary, which sees Callaghan going to various events that took place between November 2020 and January 2021. All revolved around the then-current election and its dramatic fallout, and along the way, he also interviews a few high-profile people in more standard interviews.
I do like how this film has a message without being preachy. While it does focus on extreme personalities on the right more than the left, it doesn't let those on the left off the hook, and feels a good deal more balanced than most contemporary American documentaries about politics as a result. The interviewees also make this more entertaining than most political documentaries... at least for a good portion of its runtime.
The biggest problem is that at a point, it does become a tiny bit repetitive. There are only so many rallies and screaming matches you can bear witness to before exhaustion sets in, but at the same time, the film's only about 80 minutes long, so it doesn't overstay its welcome too much. I think it concludes well, but also slightly jarringly, as Callaghan does become a little more obtrusive in the final 5-10 minutes, spelling out/directly discussing some of the things he's been building towards in order to give this a proper ending, and to ensure it doesn't just feel like binging 80 minutes worth of his YouTube videos.
But complaints aside, a lot of this is really good stuff, and I like his style of journalism. Modern news media and mainstream documentaries show how difficult it is to cover a subject like this in a way that's engaging, informative, and not biased, and I think Callaghan manages to do all of those for most of this film's runtime. For anyone who's not worried revisiting the world of politics in 2020 will make them tear their hair out in anger and/or despair, this documentary's easy to recommend.
