Girls State is directed by Jess Moss and Amanda McBlaine directors of Boys State (2020) and The Mission (2023). Jess Moss has also directed Mayor Pete (2021), The Overnighters (2014) and a few others.
Girls State follows the exact same sort of idea as Boys State did. A bunch of teenage girls go through a week long mock government experiment, which helps them learn how to build a government from the ground up.
Much like in Boys State, seeing the girls interact with each other and sharing ideas between one another is truly fascinating, it’s worth noting that right as this week began the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade was leaked. Which in turns brings a lot of interesting discussion to the documentary, seeing the reactions to the news felt incredibly powerful as well.
The girls of course give speeches which are genuinely fantastic, truly touching moments that are some of the documentary’s best moments. Jess Moss and Amanda McBlaine do such a fantastic job once again, they let everything play out without interfering which leads to every reaction and speech feeling much more powerful and raw.
Girls State and Boys State are two very interesting films that work incredibly well together, they definitely have their differences. But what they both show is young people having a genuine interest in politics and wanting to change the future.
I may slightly prefer Boys State mainly due to the idea of it being more fresh, having that said Girls State is still a really great documentary that I do recommend watching!
Girls State is available on Apple TV+
8/10 B+
Jerome Reviews... 