Homegrown Review: Uncomfortable Proximity to Far-Right Extremism in Bloated Proud Boys Documentary

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Five years ago, a large group of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other far-right extremists attacked the Capitol building. This violent protest, fueled by opposition to Joe Biden’s election and a desire to support Donald Trump’s refusal to concede, is still widely debated. In his documentary, Michael Premo humanizes some of those involved by profiling several participants in the weeks before and after the November 2020 election, including the nationwide “Stop the Steal” movement.

Released a year into Donald Trump’s second, non-continuous term, this documentary feels somewhat behind the times. While some of the footage is insightful – especially the focus on Thad Cisneros, a former leader of the Proud Boys in Salt Lake City – much of it doesn’t offer new perspectives on a topic that’s already been widely discussed. The documentary starts strong, but the close-up look at its subjects becomes repetitive, and it’s unclear what we gain from learning about the personal lives of members of a well-known hate group.

Homegrown Cannot Hold Its Ground Past Its First Hour

The film focuses on two Proud Boys members: Cisneros and Chris Quaglin. Quaglin was a participant in the Capitol attack and initially received a twelve-year prison sentence, but former President Trump commuted it after four years. Of the two, Thad is more complex; he appears sincerely, though perhaps misguidedly, interested in finding common ground with liberals and leftists. This desire for collaboration, particularly with Jacarri Kelley, a leader in the Northern Utah Black Lives Matter chapter, led the Proud Boys to publicly disavow Cisneros. Interestingly, the film also highlights the constant internal debates within the group about which other groups they should align with – these discussions often swing between denying white supremacist ideologies and advocating for the inclusion of Nazis.

The story of the Proud Boys, as told in Homegrown, vividly shows how genuine anger over real social issues can be twisted into prejudice. The core of the complaints from leaders like Cisneros and Quaglin stems from anxieties about financial hardship and the widening gap between the wealthy and working classes. Surprisingly, Cisneros was drawn to far-right ideology after watching Michael Moore’s critical film Fahrenheit 9/11. While the working class has largely diminished and wealth inequality has grown, the Proud Boys haven’t focused their anger on those responsible – like the banks bailed out in 2008 – but instead have directed it toward Black people, the LGBTQ+ community, and immigrants.

Quaglin, however, presents a different case. This carpenter from New Jersey doesn’t fit the typical image of a Proud Boy involved in the January 6th riot. He owns a large number of weapons, expresses concerns about undocumented immigrants, and represents a segment of voters who often use terms like ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘ANTIFA’ to create fear. He consistently makes questionable choices to gain favor within the organization, and went to the riot on January 6th even though his wife, who was eight and a half months pregnant, begged him not to go.

The film Homegrown effectively shows how genuine anger about real issues can be twisted into prejudice.

Spending almost two hours with Quaglin and his friends is challenging. Even if understanding people like him were the goal, there isn’t much insightful thought to be found. He isn’t a skilled speaker, doesn’t hold any real authority, and consistently repeats his mistakes – even after his wife divorces him following his time in prison. When he has nothing new to offer, it’s hard to tolerate his offensive and prejudiced language.

Honestly, I find Cisneros and Quaglin incredibly frustrating because of how consistently they say one thing and do another. It’s really jarring to hear people on the far-right complain about violence from the left while they’re busy talking about armed rebellion and brandishing weapons. While they might offer a little sympathy for what happened to George Floyd, Quaglin then quickly defends most police shootings, basically saying people shouldn’t break the law if they don’t want to face consequences. It feels incredibly disingenuous.

What’s particularly disturbing is the Proud Boys’ repeated chant of “we are western chauvinists/ we refuse to apologize for creating the modern world” – a statement that’s both strange and offensive. While these individuals clearly aren’t positive influences, it’s difficult to identify a clear takeaway message from understanding people who use “traditional family values” as a disguise for racism, sexism, and prejudice against foreigners. The film labels them as domestic terrorists, but that concept isn’t particularly new. A more important question the film doesn’t fully address is: what allows these groups to form, and how can we effectively dismantle them?

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Homegrown streams exclusively on the streaming platform GATHR on January 6th, 2026.

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2026-01-02 17:01