Better This World

Directors Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega's documentary about two unfortunate young political activists serves as yet another frightening reminder of just how much 9/11 changed everything in America, relating the sad case of twentysomething Texans David McKay and Bradley Crowder, who were caught up in a plot to allegedly firebomb the Republican National Convention in 2008. McKay and Crowder were recruited for an Austin-based left-wing activist group and encouraged by a charismatic leader who—unbeknownst to them—was also a former radical political organizer-turned-government informant. Better This World plays out like a carefully plotted noir film: the young naïfs are duped by the turncoat snitch who secretly tapes statements tying them to the plotting of a violent action at the RNC. But before any Molotov cocktails can actually be concocted, the police arrest McKay and Crowder, who claim they had already given up the idea of bombing anything. When the trial begins, viewers see the Bush-era political gears start to crank, as the federal prosecution attempts to make the case a shining example of how the War on Terror is working. Exposing the critical post-9/11 shift in information-gathering tactics, Better This World disturbingly illustrates how easily the government's expanded powers of coercion and inducement can be exploited for all the wrong reasons. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Sandlin)