The hit documentary fresh out of Sundance is an uncommonly uplifting look at today’s political climate.
Knock Down the House takes a look at our 2018 congressional election and four women who piloted grassroots campaigns to take down the political machine. The four female Democratic candidates Lears follows through their campaign are Cori Bush, Paula Jean Swearengin, Amy Vilela and, of course, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Ocasio-Cortez emerges as the shining star of the documentary as the one who emerged victorious in her race. When director Rachel Lears, after the 2016 election, reached out to progressive groups Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats looking for subjects for her documentary, she selected these four women because of their inspiring, engaging backstories.
When selecting her subjects, she had no idea what would be the outcome during the filming of footage and interviews, but of course she smartly directs the focus in editing to allow Ocasio-Cortez’s victory to emerge as a symbol of success and hope for all the women we follow, not to mention the record 529 women who ran for Congress.
Each of the four women we follow brings their own vigor and why they’ve decided to run. As Ocasio-Cortez states, when people ask her why her, what compels her to enter the race, she says if someone doesn’t step up, then the alternative is nobody, and that’s worse.
Vilela, entering the race in Nevada, is driven by a family tragedy that could’ve been easily prevented with proper access to healthcare. Bush, in Missouri, has a close personal tie to the events of Ferguson, and hopes to stop brutality like that in her community in the future. And in West Virginia, Swearengin comes from a coal mining family, a sector of the population she feels is sorely mis- and underrepresented.
All of these women are fed up with the established Dems who have been representing their district. They’re complacent, not looking out for working class interest, and as Swearengin says, “We’re coming out of the belly of the beast kicking and screaming.” The most vividly drawn battle is Ocasio-Cortez going toe-to-toe with Joe Crowley, who’d been in place since 1999.
Knock Down the House succeeds in taking us inside the grassroots efforts of these campaigns, and the individual efforts that make them happen. Even though three out of the four races don’t go as desired, they still represent a much larger movement that’s happening in American politics today. Though the documentary might gloss over the more nitty-gritty details, it captures a portrait of a feeling, of a pride and anger toward big politic complacency.
Of course, Ocasio-Cortez emerges the shining star of these stories, as the victor, and even though we know how it unfolds, knowing the filmmakers and Ocasio-Cortez herself didn’t know the outcome during filming, and the fact that we’re watching raw energy and an unknowing result unfold before our eyes, it’s riveting. The restaurant worker turned Congresswoman has such magnetic energy, it’s enthralling to watch her talk to her constituency with a passion and understanding.
Lears and her cameras were in the trenches from the very beginning, and the access to interviews and candidates feels like such a stroke of luck. The story they ended up capturing ended up being the most exciting success to come out of the 2018 congressional race. They knew they saw something in Ocasio-Cortez, and they were right. And now, we get to reap the benefit, watching how it all happened from the start.
Easily the best part of the documentary is watching Ocasio-Cortez and her team’s live reaction to their unprecedented win. The way this is structured, it starts by showing the three other women losing their respective races. They’re sure to note, however, that even though they lost, it’s the most competition any of these established Dems had ever seen in their race. There is heartbreak and there is disappointment, but there’s also knowing it was all for something.
And then we cut to Ocasio-Cortez in the car ride to her election party. The camera catches her seeing something, and she becomes elated, but then catches herself. “Press is going to our election party,” she blurts out. This means something. Once she arrives, there’s already celebration as their numbers are good over Crowley, and Ocasio-Cortez is thrust into an impromptu interview.
And then comes the victory. A swell of excitement surrounds her as she stands in dumbfounded silence, hands cupped over her mouth. Cut to her outside in Washington, D.C. telling a story of her father who passed away, how when they visited when she was a girl, her father told her that all of this, it belongs to us.