Girls State

Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine's 2024 documentary follows a summer programme held in Missouri. Hundreds of high school girls spend a week building their own state government: holding elections, forming parties, choosing judges and debating legislation. The film shows the experiment both as an exercise in democracy and as a small-scale repetition of real inequalities. The girls notice the difference in budget and content between their programme and the equivalent one run for boys and begin investigating it, which is the most striking part of the film. The argument over abortion rights enters the story alongside the court case running at the time. Several participants are followed closely and none of them stands for a single political position. Who it's for: viewers who like documentaries about youth and politics. Who it's not for: anyone expecting one conflict and a clear outcome; the film is built on observation.