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Welcome to Leith

A record of one white supremacist’s reign in a North Dakota town (Netflix)

Alissa Wilkinson covers film and culture for Vox. Alissa is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics.

A few years ago, white supremacist Craig Cobb built an enclave of hate in the tiny town of Leith, North Dakota, by buying up real estate and inviting other white supremacists to move in. Employing a matter-of-fact approach to filmmaking, Welcome to Leith chronicles the days leading up to Cobb’s arrest for his threatening behavior and quietly raises questions about the limits of free speech and the apparent limitlessness of hate. And the film’s story is hardly over; Cobb is serving four years of probation for his actions in Leith, but meanwhile he’s still at it, buying property in other small towns and attempting to convert them to white supremacist havens.

”Welcome to Leith is a sober, terrifying look at the very real monsters roaming the quiet countryside.” Bilge Ebiri, Vulture

Release date: December 15, 2015

Streaming on: Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play

Metacritic score: 78 out of 100

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