‘This Place Rules’ documentary review: A sobering peek into a polarised America

Poster of ‘This Place Rules’
| Photo Credit: HBO

In the aftermath of the 2016 election when Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States of America, a story of two Americas unfolded on the streets of the oldest democracy — thousands of Clinton supporters took to the streets to mourn the loss of the first woman presidential nominee (by a major political U.S. party) while others rejoiced the businessman’s ascent to the country’s top job.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Americans were a part of and witness to a similar but more pronounced divide — a group of Trump supporters from across the country congregated at the seat of American democracy and ransacked the complex, vandalised property and sent members of Congress into hiding. This was preceded by ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) marches across the country that provided ample space for conspiracy theories to run large — something people outside these circles have remained insulated from for the most part.

In an attempt to help us paint a realistic picture of these Americas is one man who claims to have shot to fame through the means of vox pop videos where he got people to reveal their “deepest” secrets at 2 AM on Instagram. Andrew Callaghan, in his latest project, traverses the American landscape to lay bare the darkest secrets lurking in the alleyways of America in the lead-up to the Capitol Hill riot — undercurrents of which, he claims, still persist.

Shot during and after election day, Callaghan manages to squeeze his microphone into some of the most turbulent and confrontational political spaces in the country. As a result, we are forced to listen to the ramblings of ‘Proud Boys’ and the muffled agitations of members representing ANTIFA in a span of three minutes, effectively juxtaposing the ideological divide that threatens the fabric of the United States of America. In the days after the election, Callaghan argues that the left in America had a period of fragmented disunity while the right coalesced through the ‘Million MAGA March’ and devised strategies to undo what they call a “stolen election.”

The most chilling part of the documentary is his visit to a QAnon family who pulled their children out of school to home-school them in conspiracy theories that involve extra-terrestrial creatures, reptiles, satan, and paedophiles — behaviour that is encouraged by the right-wing de-platformed media influencers legitimised by former President Donald Trump, like Alex Jones.

Through the means of sensational clips, Callaghan tries to posit a critique of the media industry which largely falls flat with its superficiality. However, it is the raw footage and Callaghan’s non-provocative interview style that manages to hold your attention. In his interview with Jones, he gives enough room for the conspiracy theorist to dig his own grave by just standing by. While his neutrality is occasionally frowned upon by political pundits, it is this quality that gets the chairman of Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, to admit that he dabbles in the business of printing t-shirts for the left.

Footage of the spine-chilling demonstrations is occasionally peppered with some colourful characters that work as comedic relief — during a rally in Washington D.C., a Jewish man was going around convincing people to do away with circumcisions for their own pleasure.

While the documentary does not chronicle the Capitol Hill insurrection, it sets the tone for the glum eventuality. Though This Place Rules feels like a really long YouTube video, it’s an important one that holds a mirror to contemporary American society.

This Place Rules is streaming on HBO Max