The Truth vs. Alex Jones | |
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Directed by | Dan Reed |
Produced by |
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Edited by |
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Music by | David Schweitzer |
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Distributed by | HBO |
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Running time | 121 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Truth vs. Alex Jones is a 2024 American documentary film, directed and produced by Dan Reed. It follows families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, taking radio show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to court for spreading lies about the shooting.
It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2024, and was released on March 26, 2024, by HBO.
Families of victims from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting take on radio host Alex Jones to court for spreading conspiracies and lies. [2]
Dan Reed received exclusive access to the courtroom of the trial of Alex Jones, after the judge permitted cameras and microphones. [3] Reed attempted to interview Jones for the film, who declined. However, Jones would turn to the cameras and wink or smile, which Reed found strange. [4]
It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2024. [5] It was released on HBO and Max on March 26, 2024. [6]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. [7] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [8]
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing: "Sharply edited, sensitively constructed, and expertly crafted. It's a reminder of how to tell this story well in a documentary film instead of dragging it out for the common docuseries trend." [9] Fletcher Peters of The Daily Beast wrote: "A scathing portrait of Jones and the vile misinformation he spread about the Sandy Hook tragedy." [10]
Other documentaries that also featured Alex Jones:
Alexander Emerick Jones is an American far-right, alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts The Alex Jones Show from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcasts across the United States via syndicated and internet radio. Jones's website, InfoWars, promotes conspiracy theories and fake news, as do his other websites, NewsWars and PrisonPlanet. Jones has provided a platform and support for white nationalists, giving Unite the Right rally attendee and white supremacist Nick Fuentes a platform on his website, Banned.Video, as well as giving an "entry point" to their ideology. In 2023, leaked texts from Jones's phone revealed that he created the website National File.
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The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. The perpetrator, Adam Lanza, fatally shot his mother before murdering 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and later committed suicide. A number of fringe figures have promoted conspiracy theories that doubt or dispute what occurred at Sandy Hook. Various conspiracy theorists have claimed, for example, that the massacre was actually orchestrated by the U.S. government as part of an elaborate plot to promote stricter gun control laws.
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HONR Network is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 2014 by Lenny Pozner. The organization began as an advocate for the survivors and the victims of mass casualty, and highly publicized, violent incidents, who were revictimized online by conspiracy theorists. More recently, HONR's mission has expanded to assist all victims of online hate and harassment and it has been involved in bringing about significant policy changes at Facebook, WordPress YouTube and other major online platforms.
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