A Gray State

Name: A Gray State
Genre: Documentary
Released: November 3, 2017
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Adam Shambour, Chris Peck, Danny August Mason, Mason Hendricks, Sean Wright

2017

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

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5.9

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5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

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A Gray State

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Movie Details & Credits

First Run Features | Release Date: November 3, 2017 | TV-MA

Starring: Adam Shambour, Chris Peck, Danny August Mason, Mason Hendricks, Sean Wright

Summary: In 2010 David Crowley, an Iraq veteran, aspiring filmmaker and charismatic up-and-coming voice in fringe politics, began production on his film A Gray State. Set in a dystopian near-future where civil liberties are trampled by an unrestrained federal government, the film's crowd funded trailer was enthusiastically received by the burgeoningIn 2010 David Crowley, an Iraq veteran, aspiring filmmaker and charismatic up-and-coming voice in fringe politics, began production on his film A Gray State. Set in a dystopian near-future where civil liberties are trampled by an unrestrained federal government, the film's crowd funded trailer was enthusiastically received by the burgeoning online community of libertarians, Tea Party activists and members of the nascent alt-right. In January of 2015, Crowley was found dead with his family in their suburban Minnesota home. Their shocking deaths quickly become a cause célèbre for conspiracy theorists who speculate that Crowley was assassinated by a shadowy government concerned about a film and filmmaker that was getting too close to the truth about their aims. A Gray State combs through Crowley's archive of 13,000 photographs, hundreds of hours of home video, and exhaustive behind-the-scenes footage of Crowley's work in progress to reveal what happens when a paranoid view of the government turns inward — blurring the lines of what is real and what people want to believe. [First Run Features]… Expand

Director: Erik Nelson

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 93 min

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Critic Reviews

Michael Rechtshaffen

Nov 22, 2017

A Gray State disturbingly traverses the blurred boundary between reality and performance all too inherent in today’s social media-fed climate of cultural narcissism. Read full review

Alan Scherstuhl

Nov 1, 2017

Friends, family, and reporters offer invaluable insight in interviews, making this the somewhat rare documentary that’s actually as illuminating as good print reporting on the same case. Read full review

Emily Yoshida

Nov 9, 2017

It’s intermittently successful, but even in its more meandering moments it is a gripping, almost unbearably dark watch. Read full review

Chuck Bowen

Nov 2, 2017

Erik Nelson's film straddles a fine and admirable line between lurid sensationalism and sober humanism. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Godfrey Cheshire

Nov 3, 2017

A Gray State captures much of this in one real-life tale that’s as unsettling as it is precisely of-the-moment. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Nov 2, 2017

Clear enough about what happened to be ambiguous about what it means, the film makes only one clean argument: Truth isn’t always stranger than fiction, but it’s often a hell of a lot sadder. Read full review

Ben Kenigsberg

Nov 2, 2017

There’s a morbid fascination inherent to documentaries like A Gray State, which is engrossing for the reasons it’s also unsatisfying: As Adam Shambour, a friend of Mr. Crowley’s, says, it’s a mystery that answers all the major questions except “Why?” Read full review

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User Reviews

TheWayfarer73

Dec 29, 2017

The documentary did a great job of pulling us in during the opening minutes, but by the last third of the film the narrative felt jarring. Definitely an intriguing story but too many unanswered questions left us with a sense that something was missing.

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