Dear Kelly

Andrew Callaghan's 2025 documentary is about Kelly Johnson, whom he met at a racist rally in California in 2021. Callaghan stays in contact with him over years and tries to understand where his beliefs came from. The method is contentious. The director does not expose his subject but does not oppose his views either; he stays alongside him for a long time and records how he arrived here. That choice risks both understanding and providing a platform, and the film is aware of it. The narrative follows Kelly's past, his family and his relationship with online communities. The result is not a story of transformation; the documentary offers no easy closure. Who it's for: those who can watch documentaries on radicalisation and contemporary American politics. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by racist speech relayed without interruption; the film shows it unfiltered.