What Happens in Boys State?
The complete story of Boys State, from the first scene to the last, in 328 words (about 1 minute). Spoilers throughout.
Spoilers ahead
The film follows a thousand teenage boys attending Boys State in Austin, Texas, coming together to build a representative government from the ground up, from all different political backgrounds, navigating challenges of organizing political parties, consensus, and campaigning for the highest office at Boys State, Governor of Texas.
The boys arrive for the program, where they are randomly divided into two parties, the Nationalists and Federalists. Those wishing to run for governor seek to collect 30 signatures to get on the primary ballot. In the Nationalist party: MacDougall does so easily; Garza manages to reach the threshold just before the deadline. Otero delivers a powerful speech and is elected state chairman for the Nationalists; he is subject to an impeachment motion that easily fails. In the Federalist party, Feinstein, who had planned on running for governor decides not to after meeting Proietti Conti (they are in the same “city” or dormitory) and is elected state chairman for the Federalists. In the Nationalist primaries, Garza delivers a sincere speech, but questions arise among conservative voters about his past participation in March for Our Lives, as well as his views on abortion and immigration policies. MacDougall positions himself as a conservative, hiding his true beliefs, but he comes across as less passionate and loses the race to Garza.
Meanwhile, the Federalists have elected Proietti Conti as their gubernatorial candidate. In the general election, the Federalists launch a meme page, starting a trend of political attack pages and digital meme warfare. However, the party dissociates itself from making any more meme pages after someone created a page that made a racist attack on Otero. Garza seems to be a promising candidate, but when Proietti Conti tries to conduct a Q&A during a speaking event Otero disallows it on the grounds that it had not been specifically requested prior. Feinstein uses that to accuses Otero of bias in the next forum. The boys cast their votes, and Proietti Conti is elected governor.
