de facto film reviews 3 stars

The Truth vs. Alex Jones, an HBO release, which debuted at South by Southwest on March 11, 2024, is the latest in a long line of strong HBO documentaries, including the Spike Lee works, 4 Little Girls and When the Levees Brokeas well as Going Clear, The Jinx and the Paradise Lost films, among many others. Director Dan Reed, who did Leaving Neverland, about the Michael Jackson sexual abuse allegations, here examines the conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones and specifically the cases brought against him, by the parents of the Sandy Hook School shooting victims.

Reed understands his audience; neither does he miss a chance to allow viewers an opportunity to get into the heads of people on both sides. This is both a great boon, and also something some viewers will struggle with, because seeing and hearing what is on display here, from Jones-who is never interviewed, only shown in clips from court cases, debriefings and appearances in various media-and those who adhere to his Infowars demagoguery, those who support it and encourage or further it, is a tough watch. What hurts here the most is seeing all this, alongside the testimonials from the parents. Bring a tissue.

The Truth vs. Alex Jones

Courtesy HBO Films 

The film manages, because of its subject matter, to become a look not just at what happened, and give a chance for the facts of the case to be heard, but also to act as a meditation on what the nature of truth is. As one of the parents says, “you can’t win with these people” and is that not the case with any zealous true believer? No evidence is ever good enough. What does this mean for society and our culture at large, particularly when, as the film states, approximately one-quarter of the US population does not believe the Sandy Hook shooting was real?

This is a scathing portrait of Jones and an indictment of a certain complacency and tendency within the culture to accept, ignore and thereby maintain or condone, explicitly or not, the most outlandish of claims. As the film reminds us, the First Amendment does not protect a person for lying. How the film accomplishes this is both complex and simple. It allows the events and the people within it to tell their own stories. Yes, there is powerful editing, juxtaposing this point or that with this or that point. Yes, there is a subtle-and only occasional-musical score, but it never overwhelms or directs emotions.

The Truth vs. Alex Jones

Courtesy HBO Films 

Going into the film, many will know the outcome, so that is not where the drama and tension comes from. Instead, it is in the encounters between Jones, his followers and the families of victims. It is, as the title implies, The Truth vs. Alex Jones, and it is not about winning, but about exposing, laying bare the ugliness inside a lie. One might ask themselves, how is it that so many people believe what Jones claims, but just as importantly, why do fewer people call out such claims, instead of letting them fester into the open wounds they too often become? Is it fear, or something else?

Ultimately, the film is about a group of people standing up to a bully, and that bully running away, claiming victory and marveling at the blood on his hands, while asking his admirers what they think of his latest actions. This is the recounting of a tragedy, but it is not just the death of children and adults, but the battle against misinformation, and the certainty of petty tyrants. Witness, during the trial, both judges giving Jones just enough rope to hang himself, over and over and over again. “Do you understand what I am telling you, Mr. Jones?” asked the judge in the Texas case. The film will leave you feeling that, even if he did, he did not care, and the portrait is therefore that of a sociopath, and a warning to be ever vigilant against the erosion of facts. A very great work, and highly recommended.

THE TRUTH VS. ALEX JONES is now streaming on MAX