A Gray State
A Gray State
NR | 04 November 2017 (USA)
A Gray State Trailers

In 2010 David Crowley, an Iraq veteran, aspiring filmmaker and charismatic up-and-coming voice in fringe politics, began production on his film 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.

Reviews
JenniferMary122

Erik Nelson manipulated the information and is obviously bias, not presenting all facts and events in a neutral manner. If you end up watching this, make sure you also research the case yourself to get the full picture.

... View More
neener3707

While I do think this was a great documentary with an interesting enough story to tell, it was slightly repetitive in spots. About a new director with budding potential named David Crowley who is mysteriously murdered while creating an admittedly provocative film about a police state with an oppressive government. The story, while repetitive at times, does a great job telling the story to the viewer, providing an easily understood story of David's personal life, his life as a promising new director, and his families unfortunate end. But as I said before, the only slight drawback is that it often repeats itself when telling the story. And we will discuss it.The film jumps around between David's personal life, his work on the film, and his murder. The issue is SOMETIMES, the story repeats itself when starting a new section. I found myself thinking that the film already explained that he was a potentially great film maker, feeling that the film repeats its to remind you of things that didn't happen too long ago for me to forget and need to be reminded. I would have also liked to hear more about his murder, which I found to be an interesting plot line that wasn't fleshed out as much as I would of hoped. But I must emphasize that these are only minor issues.Over all I would recommend the film to anyone, though some may find it to be too conspiracy theory laden, but as an avid documentary viewer, I enjoyed it.

... View More
mj-04155

The story does not provide any insight on any the alleged conspiracy theory, neither does it delve into the psyche of the protagonists. To me the story is nothing more than the sad unfolding of a young person's mental illness with a tragic ending. We know nothing about the protagonist's childhood, family upbringing or intimate relationships. All the movie does is interview friends and family who speculate on and on his apparently disintegrating marriage. Did he suffer from PTSD? Paranoid schizophrenia with delusions of grandeur mania? Very few concrete facts, a lot of speculation...

... View More
kme008

Need to know what is being said in the video recording left on Davids phone before his voice recording labled "Komel's prophecy 30oct14" sound is unintelligible and leaves us feeling like a key detail is missing right as the documentary ends. What did she forsee, feel, speculate, or otherwise? This film did a good job of documenting but I think it makes clear that this was not a conspiracy do-in but rather an unfortunate mental health nightmare.

... View More