Welcome to Leith (2015) User Reviews

Thought-provoking but dissatisfying

[janetnotjackson · 6/10 · 25 June 2016]

The story is fascinating, but the execution is lacking. Despite the filmmakers' attempts to market and portray the film as a thriller, it misses the mark. (SPOILER) The only "violence" committed by Cobb and Dutton is antagonistic speech intended to provoke reaction.

Whether unwittingly or not, the filmmakers almost help the viewer empathize more with the supremacists than the townpeople, because more film time is dedicated to the supremacists' reflections. Personal hateful behavior is displayed more thoroughly on the townpeople's side -- (SPOILERS) the gathering of angry mobs verbally berating the supremacist newcomers, the burning of supremacists' homes.

The film leaves you feeling a profound sense of dissatisfaction. Cobb doesn't get the justice the townspeople think he deserves. The viewer is left unsure as to what the proper amount of justice would be, who is the true victim, and which group has a worse mob mentality. WELCOME TO LEITH is thought-provoking as a documentary but not the fast-paced thriller it was hyped to be.

Good Triumphs, But At What Cost?

[woobooridesagain · 6/10 · 31 May 2016]

Leith, North Dakota, is a small town. It is the very upper curve on the dot of the 'i' in the middle of nowhere. With a population of less than thirty individuals, it nevertheless prided itself on its small and isolated nature. That all changed when white supremacist chat board demagogue Craig Cobb moved into the neighborhood, and suddenly the small town was the focus of national attention, as Cobb declared his intention to turn Leith into a haven for the white supremacist movement, to live in a place where the "purity" of the white race wouldn't be uninterrupted by society at large. Taking advantage of cheap land prices and the town's small government, Cobb ultimately intended to take over the town completely Ultimately, Cobb's dreams of creating a white supremacist promised land fell through, for the same reasons that have plagued the white pride, hate group movement since its inception. Violent rhetoric, preached without subtlety and ultimately self-destructing in a pointless show of force. In total, the grand vision of a white-supremacist utopia amounted to Cobb, a fellow white supremacist and his family, and three others who, at the time of writing, have shown little interest in picking up where Cobb left off. Cobb and his cohort were arrested and forced out of the town.

But when Cobb had made his intentions known, the media--as the media is wont to do--took off with it, declaring it a battle over the soul of a tiny slice of America. A battle of good versus evil, akin to a real life Western, with the outlaws trading in black hats for shaved heads. And this is the mistake made by "Welcome to Leith", as this view of good versus evil overshadows a much more important series of questions raised by the events portrayed in the story: At what point does society at large infringe on the rights of the individual to express their viewpoints, their lifestyles and how far can they go to oppose them?

A disclaimer: by no means do I support the White Nationalist movement, or whatever other monikers and labels they use to disguise their true, hate-filled intentions. These men have violent intent that can only be described as evil and repulsive. Their views and methods have been the force behind some of the greatest tragedies of the last century. But it is important to note that under our system of freedom of speech and freedom of self-expression, they have every right to express these viewpoints, so long as they do not engage or plot violence and harm. And while it is indeed true that this is exactly what Cobb and his followers have espoused, nevertheless, we also see some rather underhanded deeds committed by those opposed to the invading white supremacists.

Although it is hard to blame them for their actions, the citizens of Leith nevertheless did engage in campaigns of harassment against Cobb and his followers, vandalizing their property, denying them services, ultimately culminating in a town ordinance being passed that was transparently intended to be solely for the purposes of kicking Cobb out of town. While it is difficult to feel sympathetic towards these particular lifestyle practitioners, it is important to bear in mind that this same action could have been taken against anyone with a viewpoint or lifestyle that clashed with that of the town at large. It isn't difficult to imagine Muslims, Jews, homosexuals, or any other cultural or racial minority receiving similar treatment in the place of Craig Cobb and his white supremacists. Treatment that, in Leith at least, now has legal precedent.

This is not to say that the citizens of Leith would engage in such behavior. Indeed, it would appear that Leith is a town that welcomes viewpoints of cultural diversity. Yet the lengths at which the town went to remove this element that they detested, supported at large by society due to the controversial viewpoints of the ones they targeted, is an important question to address. One that, ultimately, the film seems to hint at, then promptly ignore in the face of documenting the ensuing, spectacular fall of the white supremacist movement in Leith, North Dakota.

Ultimately, "Welcome to Leith" merely documents a moment in time, hinting at greater, more thought-provoking questions, but does not seem to want to focus on them. Instead, it focuses on the same sensational viewpoint taken by the media at large. The good people of Leith won out over the forces of evil, we have our happy ending. For "Welcome to Leith", that is all that we ultimately get.

A terrifying yet fascinating account of a dark recess of American society

[colinlomasox · 7/10 · 25 April 2016]

Leith, a registered ghost town in North Dakota, is home to twenty people and a single shop. The almost entirely forgotten town suddenly becomes the most discussed settlement in America as renowned white supremacist Craig Cobb moves in to buy up land and property to rent out or give away to the country's most notorious Nazi groups. Cobb's grand plan is to become mayor of the town and create America's first legal white-only town. This startling documentary details the events of the subsequent months.

With its isolated small town backdrop and bleached, low-contrast colourisation of the stock, Welcome to Leith gives the impression of a fictional horror movie. During the winter months, you could be watching Fargo. As the feeling of threat and dread hover over the dinner table during the resident's mealtimes, it appears to come straight from a M Night Shyamalan nightmare.

Cobb's appearance is part aging thrash metal guitarist, part Peter Stringfellow with jovial smiles that betray the viciousness below the surface. Dutton is an Iraq war veteran with possibly the worst Hitler moustache in history who seems to gain more sympathy from the audience than loathing. It feels that Dutton, although harbouring abhorrent beliefs, is principally concentrating on receiving approval from Cobb, who takes on an adopted father figure role. It's Dutton's girlfriend Deborah Henderson who is the truly chilling one, with a vicious uncompromising hatred for non-whites and a predatory growl constantly smeared across her face.

What Nichols and Walker do exceptionally shrewdly is to give both corners of the ring the time to discuss their particular point of view. What this effectively does is give access to all of the players, something rarely achieved in a documentary about extremism, and this produces a wonderful insight into evil-doer's everyday life. Seconds after seeing Dutton performing aggressive sieg heils at a town meeting in the face of Leith's only black resident, Bobby Harper, we see him making banana fritters in his kitchen discussing his dreams of becoming a celebrity chef. The writers realise that given enough rope, the white supremacists will happily hang themselves anyway; the exasperated cries from the Cheyenne plains are clearly audible as Dutton argues that white births are now in the minority for the first time in American history. Cobb takes a DNA test on national television to prove his racial purity, only to find out he's fourteen percent African.

This even handedness rightfully reaps rewards towards the end of the film as they manage to obtain video footage from Deborah Henderson's smartphone. This shows Cobb and Dutton marching through the town with loaded rifles shouting racial slurs at the residents. It is at this moment, with whispered comments such as 'Make sure they shoot first', the realisation sinks in that for all the talk and arrogant discrimination, there is a true threat of lethal violence involved here.

Another attractive observation is the charming naivety the original residents have to extremism. Mayor Schock freely admits to not even knowing what a white supremacist was before meeting Cobb. It is refreshing then to observe how a community can pull together to defend one another's rights, and you get a stimulating insight into the way America works at ground level as the council try to work around the first amendment excuses Cobb obsesses on so well. When does one's right to freedom of speech become another's illegal hate- crime discrimination? The town's council at one point pass a new law requiring every living accommodation to have plumbed sewage, in one clean sweep making the majority of Cobb's rental properties, housing the white supremacists, illegal. This is a fascinating move to counteract Cobb's completely, and astonishingly, legal Nazi hate- speech and threats of gun violence.

Welcome to Leith is a terrifying yet fascinating account of a dark recess of American society and culture. It is made with clarity and observed impartiality and stands out impressively against previous documentaries of a similar ilk.

A well-made movie about a terrible thing.

[invisibleunicornninja · 7/10 · 11 February 2018]

I wish that this wasn't a documentary.

The movie overall is extremely gripping and entertaining and well-put together. The content is horrible, and I wish that the events shown in it had never happened. This has little to do with my enjoyment of the film, however. The movie was well-put together and I liked seeing all the perspectives. It seemed like the filmmakers were trying to get the audience to sympathize with the nazis, but other than that I enjoyed this movie.

white supremacists moving in

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 17 May 2016]

This one got hard to watch. So much hatred, so many derogatory epithets and swears being tossed around. Definitely NOT for the kids. Currently showing on netflix. The film opens with the towns-people introducing themselves, and how they first got to see or meet Craig Cobb,a white supremacist leader. The (true) story of how Cobb bought up land and encouraged other skinheads to come move into the town. A whole lot of people's religious beliefs and general statements being tossed around, from both sides. The writer/directors Nichols and Walker film the supremacists, the townfolk who just want the old, quiet way of life, and even the sheriffs who are caught in between. We meet the inter-racial couple who have lived here for years, and hope it doesn't get rough for them. For various reasons, Cobb ended up in jail, was subsequently released, and has since sold some of the property in Leith. Overall, interesting to watch. Kind of a lesson in legal rights and the line between legal and illegal activity.

Documentary on the town that the white supremacists tried to own

[t-dooley-69-386916 · 7/10 · 14 April 2016]

This is a feature length documentary filmed in the small North Dakota town of Leith. When I say small I mean there were only 24 inhabitants and one bar. It is the sort of place with dirt roads a slow way of life and a sense of community.

They like to welcome new comers and then one day Craig Cobb moved in and started buying up lots. The recent oil boom in the area had made real estate suddenly more valuable. Cobb though is one of the top (if that is the right word) white supremacists in the USA and probably the world. He and his followers (seemingly recruited in a trailer park sale) decided they would move in enough of his anti Semite and racist mates to be able to take over the town council – through democracy obviously – and then the town would be theirs etc.

This is filmed over a period which saw things coming to a head. It is not an action fest of bad stuff happening but it is alarming at how this could happen. He had flags of all the white countries and this includes the Union Flag (Jack) with a ruddy great swastika stuck in the middle of it. The man has nothing going for him and best bud Kynan Dutton was equally as vile.

This is not a show stopper but it is eminently watchable and tells its story in as balanced a way as it probably could have. There is a lot of profanity and offensive language but it only exemplifies the level of feeling that such people provoke in others. If you are a documentary fan then this is well worth a watch.

Fascinating film about Democracy and White Supremacy in Small Town America

[JustCuriosity · 9/10 · 13 March 2015]

Welcome to Leith was well-received at its showing at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. The film documents the peculiar events that occurred in 2013-2014 when a nationally-known white supremacist Craig Cobb moves to tiny Leith, North Dakota (population: 24) with a plan to buy up land and take over city government and make it into some sort of center of white supremacy. Once alerted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) the ordinary town folks mobilize to fight back and save their town from Cobb's nefarious plan.

The odd part of the story is that Cobb's plan seems to be legal. (When he and his partner are finally arrested they almost seem to have been provoked.) There is nothing illegal about buying land and moving into a town. And the first amendment allows him to express his beliefs and fly his Nazi flags no matter how evil and offensive those beliefs may be. The town residents actually seemed to be making excuses to get rid of him such as citing him for not having running water and a sewage system on his property.

Fundamentally, the film asks the question is democracy about the community making decisions by the will of the majority or is there a basic set of minimum beliefs about human equality that are necessary prerequisites to participate in democratic society? The majority of the town seemed to decide – really quite reasonably - that Cobb's noxious beliefs were so anti-egalitarian that they didn't want him and his cronies to live in their town. They are in some sense intolerant of his intolerant beliefs, but one can hardly blame them.

Welcome to Leith is beautifully filmed and the filmmakers maintain an impressive level of objectivity about their offensive subject. They let his evil beliefs discredit themselves rather than trying to paint Cobb as anything more than the pathetic nasty creature that he is. The townspeople come off as genuine and human. Perhaps it is a positive sign that this sort of racism is unacceptable even in one of the smallest most isolated corners of the United States. I hope that Welcome to Leith gets widely distributed so that many more people can enjoy this powerful film.

A documentary about mentally ill people being garbage people

[Mcduff3601 · 7/10 · 9 December 2018]

This reminded me of Wild Wild Country where a band of renegades takes over a small town for their own nefarious purposes. Both end almost the same way. But Leith was only 2hrs vs WWC at 6 or 7.

It is a sad state when we can't or won't remember and learn from our own history. This movie does a pretty good job showcasing white supremists and their tactics and the struggle a little known town had to endure because these nuts were trying to prove something.

Well told and fast paced. Would totally recommend.

No sunshine on this Leith.......

[FlashCallahan · 8/10 · 28 January 2016]

The documentary chronicles the attempted takeover of Leith, North Dakota by white supremacist Craig Cobb.

What begins as an 'enemy within' story, turns into something more sinister, as the local townsfolk realise that the man buying their land is trying to create a hub for America's neo- Nazi movement.

As Cobb's disciples arrive the locals rise up, and what was at first, a predictable war of nerves, turns into something deeper, questioning the concrete Amendments placed by the US government.......

When seeing the documentary on face value alone, it's another perfunctory documentary made to exploit something that is already beyond exploitation, radicals and there abhorrent positive opinions on racism.

It follows the same style as most documentaries do, have the good old talking head section, footage from cameras and news reports, acting as a narrative charting the occurring events.

And whenever we see the main protagonist, or his 'disciples', there is this weird haunting musical score, like moans in a warehouse, which, if on a compilation of incidental music, would be called 'the epitome of evil'.

And of course, the makers of the film are almost godlike in the way they can edit the footage. They alone decide how to make Cobb look during the film. Pure evil, snivelling wreck, pathetic loner, they use all the tricks they can to make him look powerful at first, and slowly lose his grip on reality. But to be fair, it wouldn't take much trickery, the man is a despicable piece if work.

But if you took away all these simple tricks of the documentary maker, you can see the bigger picture, not only was Cobb trying to create his own little supremacist village, according to the first amendment, he was doing the majority of it legally.

It's a fascinating insight to the legal system, and just how twisting the system ever so slightly can veer one persons judgmental perspective on a stale cult that should have ended over a century ago, can tilt in his favour.

It's a scary though that even in today's climate, this sort of frantic hatred is still active and almost imperative to some peoples way of life.

It's just desserts that Cobb becomes the 'fugitive' of the piece come the end, and he is the one banished into the middle of nowhere.

Powerful stuff for sure, it will anger you, as you would expect it to, but it's a reminder that there are some absolute maniacs about,thinking that what they do is perfectly acceptable.

Subject great, film very good (but is it great?)

[skinnybert · 7/10 · 23 February 2021]

This film definitely gets the conflict: a dying town receives new arrivals who they do not want. We see a lot of bad behavior, without seeing how it came about. We hear a lot about how people feel -- but not how they got there. We see a lot of things, but we don't see the causes; we can only accept what the film shows us.

In this way, "Welcome to Leith" is very much a shaped film about real people in a real event. Sympathy clearly exists for the townspeople, but we are also given good exposure to the newcomers, who present their views openly. Unexplored is how the behavior of the good townspeople is often worse than that of the prejudiced newcomers -- or is it? We don't know, but in this film we see property destruction only by one side, and it's not the newcomers.

Making issues more complicated, the arguments given by the old-timers only tangle things further; we can imagine the same arguments happening in dying white towns receiving new non-white occupants. Sure, the answer feels obvious to all of us -- but you can't argue a feeling into a legal action ... or can you?

Perhaps the filmmakers realized all this; the title alone is ironic, since clearly the town of Leith is *not* welcoming these people. But in a free democracy, property up for sale can be bought by anyone interested. What we haven't figured out how to manage, is how to balance the rights of the existing inhabitants with those of the newcomers. "Welcome to Leith" shows this problem is still very much alive -- regardless of which side of the Sold sign you're standing on

A must see documentary in today's trying times

[WickedYouth · 10/10 · 29 October 2018]

This documentary speaks volumes and is very relevant to America in 2016-2018 with what is happening in the news.

This should be shown in every school to help fight hatred and learn how to stand up to them. Kudos to the producers for making such an important piece and getting it out there

Well done documentary about a disputed, controversial event

[tinecrine · 7/10 · 2 March 2023]

The story of Craig Cobb, a man who attempted to turn a dying, tiny, remote ND town into a White community. I've done a synopsis of the movie below.

Craig Cobb moves to Leith, ND. Everybody starts to panic. A town meeting is held and hundreds of people with absolutely nothing better to do travel to the middle of nowhere just to express their views of disapproving of Cobb's plan. It is quite funny how the only people who ended up being kicked out of the meeting were protesters. The violent-labeled supremacists were the ones who didn't cause disorderly conduct.

A Leith resident puts up security cameras for some reason, likely after Cobb doxes him. Keep in mind however, that every person's personal information such as addresses, names, phone numbers, family members, etc. Can easily be found online with a quick search. There is nothing illegal about doing so.

Those that were doxed had a daughter murdered in the past, and seem very paranoid about Cobb doing something to them despite the fact that they are white, so they have a rifle, pistol, and knife by their bed every night and plan to get a concealed carry permit.

Townspeople plead with the county sheriff to tell Cobb to leave, however they cannot do that as he legally owns property in town and can do whatever he wants. There is a clip of US veteran and new town resident Kynan Dutton being berated and captured by a power-happy sheriff. In another town meeting Cobb brings up an issue about the mistreatment of his tenants but is basically ignored.

The paranoid family from earlier decides to move their children out of town for fear that they will be somehow murdered despite them not being black.

Desperate to try anything, the generic farmer and self-appointed mayor Ryan Schock quickly passes a new city ordinance that requires all houses in town to have sewer and running water facilities, which Cobb's does not have. One thing missing here is it is not shown whether or not the ordinance is ever complied with.

Cobb appears on television and attempts to explain a DNA test that says he is 14% black, but is unable to do so after being repeatedly interrupted. I would think though that what shows on the outside is more important than what is not visible on the inside. Cobb later denounced this test and said it was purposefully rigged for ratings.

Kynan and Deborah Dutton show how their family has been harassed with car vandalism, slashed tires, trespassing, and threats. Tired of this, Kynan and Cobb walk the town streets holding a rifle and shotgun. They are repeatedly insulted by residents, though they choose not to aim or fire at anybody. The police are called and the two are later illegally arrested after said police trespass to do so.

A clip shows some stolen white supremacist signage being illegally burned. Cobb's bond is set at 1 million dollars cash, he is charged with 7 counts of terrorizing. One of the counts is later dismissed after a witness was determined to be unreliable, and 5 more were eventually downgraded from felony to misdemeanor menacing charges. He sells his Leith house to a town resident that seems to have taken a neutral stance to all of the recent events.

Kynan takes a plea bargain and gets only a disorderly conduct charge after agreeing to testify against Cobb in court.

The historic Leith Creamery building, which is supremacist property, is abruptly condemned by a health department and is quickly demolished and burned in what appears to be some sort of legalized arson.

Cobb spends almost half a year in jail and is released on strict probation. Leith residents wished for him to get 5-10 years in jail, which is completely unrealistic for the charges he had. It would have been very different if he had actually done something bad such as firing at someone, but he didn't and it is even shown in the video that he was saying he had self control and wasn't shooting anyone. Cobb then moves to Sherwood, ND, near the Canadian border, and has pretty much lived a quiet life since, having never been arrested or in national news ever again.

Keep in mind that I personally do not share the all of beliefs of Craig Cobb, but I just find it incredibly revealing how this entire case unfolded because his views are a slim minority, and therefor there was many instances of prejudice against him and his followers.

I especially find the legalized arson disturbing. That's just like if you hung a swastika outside the front of your old garage and somebody burns your garage down because they didn't like the swastika.

Also, was them patrolling the town with guns even illegal? I would say it was in bad taste, but at the same time, if I was one of the two and had gotten my property repeatedly vandalized, i would have gotten tired of putting up with it as well, and would have wanted to display some force to discourage people from further acts. They had the right to have guns after all. Although there were obscenities yelled, nobody's life was verbally threatened, and neither of them insulted anyone before they had been insulted first themselves. Nor did anybody get shot at or even aimed at. And as mentioned earlier, Cobb talked of himself having control, that he wasn't shooting anybody. But the news media of course edited down the clip to make it seem like they were the bad guys.

The Craig Cobb story is an example of what can happen to someone when they try to openly express minority beliefs in today's society.

A Giant Story About Nothing

[Ridley_Scott · 1/10 · 27 May 2017]

The filmmakers did their hardest to convey this true story as being of national importance, but their work dwindles by the end of this documentary and you realize that the entire episode in Leith, North Dakota was literally about nothing at all.

This is a documentary about two nearly impoverished white supremacists who pay a couple hundred bucks to buy up parcels of land in some backwater North Dakota town that nobody cares about. That's all this documentary is about, no joke.

As the two white supremacists move into town some of the townsfolk find out who they are, thanks to media coverage, and then begins a campaign of back & forth harassment between the white supremacists and some of the townspeople.

Eventually the white supremacists are arrested on trumped up charges that are later reduced, but amazingly none of the townspeople are arrested for their harassing activities toward the white supremacists (some of which are captured on video in the documentary).

By the end of this documentary, you're left with a feeling of disdain for both the white supremacists and the townsfolk. You also realize that you would never want to live in North Dakota! Lastly, you realize that this documentary was almost entirely trivial and pointless, has absolutely ZERO national impact or relevance, and going by the reviews and online footprint, almost nobody saw this documentary! Btw, as a resident in a small southern town, I've lived near quite a few white supremacists. My attitude was always different strokes for different folks. I won't judge them if they don't judge me, etc. That seems to have worked well for me for nearly three decades.

Craig Cobb is 11% African. I think he should shoot himself.

[deloudelouvain · 8/10 · 23 April 2019]

As much as I hate white supremacists as well as any other intolerant movement this was interesting to watch as this documentary is very well made. There is footage from both sides of the town habitants. So I really can't agree with other reviewers claiming the white supremacist didn't get his say. Instead I thought he got plenty of air time to explain his case but the only thing you can witness is his faul and disgusting vision of life. In fact everything he says and does sums their narrow vision very well, they are all a bunch of intolerant retards that belong in jail or in a grave. The world would be better off without this kind of parasites that blaim everything that goes wrong in their pathetic life to Jewish or people of African origin. Craig Cobb, with his self declared high IQ, is in fact dumber than a box of rocks. His mate, sorry I forgot the retards name, is the exact specimen you can expect with these kind of people, low and uneducated white thrash with the only hability to reproduce alot and so to continue the lineage of dumbasses. The irony is that he sees himself as an Aryen, one of the pure white race. It's just too funny for words, for that you have to watch this documentary yourself so that you can witness what their Aryens are supposed to look like. Respect to all the people that opposed themselves to those scums of the earth. The documentary also shows how ridicule the first amendment is. Americans should be deeply ashamed to tolerate hate groups in their country. If you preach hate, violence and even extermination of another race you belong in jail, that's it. No first amendment should protecting that kind of behavior. Shame on you America.

The filmmakers did a good job...but the story was undone by some of the townspeople...

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 6 June 2016]

The people that made "Welcome to Leith" did a nice job of presenting a reasonably well balanced and interesting story. While they obviously didn't like the white supremacists featured in the film, they also were sure to present the complete story...warts and all.

The town of Leith is extremely tiny and located in the Dakotas. When a crazed white supremacist arrives there and starts buying up property, folks start getting concerned. When he then starts inviting in other like-minded jerks, the town starts to react...strongly. What follows is a film that consists of showing the tiny town's efforts to get rid of the supremacists and prevent them from taking over Leith. Unfortunately, when the neo-Nazis actually do something that might be illegal, some of the townsfolks manage to undo the state's case by talking out of turn...and some of these people later blame the state for the case falling apart. However, the way I saw the film I don't believe the authorities LEGALLY had much more they could do about the supremacists...and the film leaves everything in limbo. This could REALLY benefit from a follow-up to know what subsequently occurred.

As I mentioned, the people who made the film were great--they were very thorough and did a wonderful job in presenting both sides. It's not 100% satisfying to watch, however, for two reasons. First, in real life things often DON'T work out perfectly...as the film illustrates. And, Second, despite 99.9% of the viewers wanting to see these neo-Nazis die or go to prison forever, legally this wasn't possible due to Constitutionally guaranteed rights...even the right to be an evil, nasty, hateful individual! To me this isn't a bad thing...everyone deserves protection--whether or not they are nice people...though I am sure many will be angered by this. Despite its shortcomings, it does make for an interesting documentary as well as a great civics lesson.

Excellent reveal of sneay Nazi

[kellymitchel · 9/10 · 15 December 2019]

This film was incredible. It captures the small community putting up with this horrible neo-Nazi and seeing him plot to take over leadership revealed how sneaky and concerned we should all be in these fascist times. Excellent film.

Yawn. Nothing to see here.

[davannacarter · 1/10 · 2 March 2016]

When I saw the trailer, the reviews, the promos, etc. they really had me hooked with lines like, "Gripping!", "Better than any fiction story", "A horror film come to life", "A town divided by hate", etc. I thought, "Wow. This seems like something I want to see. The town seems small. I'm guessing a few hundred people live there." But partway through the movie I learned the town only has around 20 people and my interest in it sank. I watched the movie with bored eyes as I wanted to finish it but couldn't get over my resentment at being mislead.

The filmmakers and the reviewers make this seem like some harrowing story. But, in reality, nobody cares about some white supremacist setting up shop on a few acres of dirt with 24 people in North Dakota. Not even North Dakota people care about this. A place inhabited by 24 people isn't even a town. I'd call that merely a stretch of dirt with 24 people on it. Doesn't a town need at least 100 people?

I may sound like a snob, but come on, does anyone really care if some white supremacist sets up shop in a place with two dozen people? If it was more than 100, I'd be interested. But a place with 24 people? Who cares? If you read about it in the newspaper, you'd think, "The New York Times is running an article about some deranged white supremacist setting up shop in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota amongst a so-called town of 24 people in the hopes of creating some booming all-white metropolis? Who cares? Is this news worthy? Let those supremacists set up shop up there. There are no women there. No jobs. Few other white supremacists are gonna make an effort to live there. If they don't freeze their balls off and return to the place they original came from, they'll die of boredom because there's nothing fun to do out there. I have better things to do than care about what happens to some pile of dirt in North Dakota. I'm gonna go watch paint dry."

Am I lying when I say that's what people would think if this movie was a news article? The New Yorkers who made this documentary knew people would think this if they read it in an article. So in order to make this boring story interesting, they had to over blow the hype to the extreme. All this hype about how it's fascinating and some sort of interesting story about today's America is garbage. Don't believe the hype. This documentary is nothing more than these bored hipsters' trying their hardest to break into the film industry.

Stunning documentary!

[vsveig · 9/10 · 22 December 2020]

This is the documentary about the inhabitants of Leith, a small village/town in North Dakota. After finding out that Craig Cobb, a well known and infamous neo nazi are buying as much land as he possibly can in order to create some sort of village for his like minded, mentally challenged people aka other neo nazis. Basically, Cobb is trying to take over Leith.

It starts off pretty calmly, but after a while Cobb and his minions start to walk "patrols" in this small community while being armed with assault rifles and things escalate quicky. The movie is not only a testament to how hard the residents of Leith fought to get rid of a potentially dangerous group of individuals but it also gives a glimpse inside the narrow mind of Cobb and his followers. Why they would let themselves be portrayed like this for the world to see is beyond me, but in my experience alt-righters and neo nazis aren't very intelligent to begin with. If you haven't watched this, i recommend it strongly.

The negative reviews comes from deplorables who's afraid and/or ashamed of the truth. This movie is extremely well made, it's unbiased and we get to see both sides of the situation.

Give it a chance and you won't regret it...

[glueShoe · 8/10 · 9 May 2016]

@davannacarter <-- posted a review that is incredulous.

The story about Leith ND is captivating, riveting, and true. It isn't trivialized by the number of people in a small town.

In fact, it is more impactful that the Neo-Nazis chose such a small town as a target. Predators prey on the weak.

Hitler and the 3rd Reich didn't start with an empire, they built one on fear.

This movie carefully exposes the narrative with each interview and each scene. Nothing appears to be 'over produced' or fake. You can feel the fear and terror the citizens felt toward the encroachment of fascism. They spoke up, fought back, and won.

Give this documentary a chance to show you a perspective on Neo-Fascism.

Thoroughly enjoyed.

[charlesbiggins · 9/10 · 10 February 2020]

Excellent film, thoroughly enjoyed it. The stories including the neo nazis and people resisting was so fascinating!

Someone has a bad neighbour. Not exactly mind-blowing stuff here.

[griffin-alan · 4/10 · 15 February 2019]

Yes, the central character is a horrible person. Yes, I feel sorry for anyone who has to live near him. But when you stand back, this is a story of about 20-30 people affected by a bad neighbour. Unless your hoodwinked by the noise, there's nothing more to this movie than that.

Personal portrait of what happens when neo nazis take over your tiny town

[imseeg · 8/10 · 30 October 2021]

"Welcome to Leith" is an astonishing portrait of a tiny peaceful American village (only 24 inhabitants) which gets taken over by a bunch of neonazis, who decided to become permanent residents there. The neonazis even take over the town hall meeting and they buy several plots of housing property.

This documentary is a stunning tale of what happens when neonazis suddenly become your neighbour and start walking around your former peaceful village with loaded guns wearing nazi symbols.

As a viewer we get a deeper insight into both the personal lives of these neonazis and their original peaceful neighbours. Will they be able to live together or will there be a violent conflict?

What I liked about this documentary was the balanced view. The neonazis dont get demonized right away by the director, he gives the neonazis ample time to tell their side of the story, although their words and actions on camera speak volumes about their anger and hatred.

I usually never like to watch documentaries about these kind of groups but this one is quite insightful. Recommended viewing. (No visual examples of violence to be seen in this documentary).

Best horror movie of 2015

[rokuban · 10/10 · 13 August 2019]

Unfortunately, it is a documentary.

This film allows us to witness how a single white supremacist, backed by an impressively strong community of like mnded people, tried to take over a small American town and subvert democracy to meet his needs.

The crew has been able to follow both sides of the battle. The supremacists, and the residents of Leith, allowing the viewer to form his own opinion.

The cinematography is astounding, reminiscent of David Lynch (who tried his hand at documentaries with the nineties series « American Chronicles »). A visceral sense of dread, paradoxically achieved with beautiful cut scenes and a great score, hence accompanies us all the way through the film.

This is an mandatory watch. Especially nowadays. We can't afford to divert our eyes. Welcome to Leith is an essential reminder of what could happen, even in a democratic country, and how fast it could happen.

Shaky camera film, turned off

[sphinxrb · 1/10 · 14 July 2019]

Can't stand shaky camera films. Skipped around a bit, still skaky, fast pans, hard to watch, turned off.