What a strange film this is, and what a strange set of events it shows us. Having elections and UN councils for groups of children is a pretty normal way of teaching them about such things as political and democratic processes, but this is altogether something different. I'm sure the aims of Boys (and Girls) State were laudable when first established, but now it seems to be a brazen, testosterone-fuelled bear pit where boys seem to learn the lesson that lying is a necessary good in politics and the other side is always to be demonised. It's largely white, it reeks of privilege and it's as if no one involved bothered to read Lord Of The Flies.
The filmmakers do a great of finding characters - likeable and not so much - to follow, and one of them (Steven) seems like a genuinely impressive young man, the sort you hope might just go on to some sort of political career. It is entertaining, but it's an ultimately sad conclusion that at least part of the reason American politics is as it is, is because children are trained in those ways from youth.
The filmmakers do a great of finding characters - likeable and not so much - to follow, and one of them (Steven) seems like a genuinely impressive young man, the sort you hope might just go on to some sort of political career. It is entertaining, but it's an ultimately sad conclusion that at least part of the reason American politics is as it is, is because children are trained in those ways from youth.