Rating: NR | Runtime: 102 minutes
Release Date: October 21st, 2023 (USA)
Studio: Encode Productions
Director(s): Jessica Solce

The law is almost a challenge.

Cody Wilson is sniffing his own farts from the start of Jessica Solce’s Death Atlantic. I honestly think his head is so far up there that he’d admit as much and find some SAT-level quote to smirk and explain how that fact actually makes him a hero and that it’s okay if you don’t agree. This is simply who Wilson is. Who people like Wilson are. Self-proclaimed disruptors who revel in the limelight of saying very little and living entirely on the success of discovering that they say it louder and more marketable than the next “smartest guy in the room”.

That’s what this documentary is: marketing. And a bit of self-canonization with parting remarks about how his “silence” or “defeat” won’t be willing. Is it a distraction from his conviction after having sex with a minor? Is it a curiosity and desire to be killed like he and many of his tribe believe their pseudonymized compatriot in DIY-arms was? Or is it simply ego? I don’t know. I also don’t really care. The fact that the film keeps going after Wilson’s arrest as if he was ever the most interesting part about it is wild to me. The final hour is a crawl as it twists itself into a pretzel to make him relevant to the message again.

Those first forty minutes, though? I’ll admit that they are intriguing. Do I agree with most of what Wilson says? No. Do I think being able to distribute files on how to make a firearm should be totally protected by the First Amendment? No. But there is a compelling argument to be made and the reality that his case to legally do exactly that has major ramifications on so many other things is important. I only wish Solce took us out of Wilson’s bubble to fully explain it. She sticks solely with him, his friends, and his lawyers as authorities on everything. If the topic is truly bigger than Wilson, why does he ensure he’s synonymous with it?

The whole becomes an echo chamber of false humility failing to mask an enormous superiority complex. It’s Wilson telling us why he’s correct and others who worship him confirming it without anyone really saying anything but buzzword rhetoric that reduces “free speech” to a catch-all phrase. If it were up to them, you should be able to scream “Fire!” in a crowd whenever you want because the act of saying the word doesn’t actually kill anyone. You aren’t forcing them to run and trample each other. That was their choice. Context is rendered inconsequential.

Sorry, but the utter lack of pushback or even an acknowledgement that pushback could exist by only platforming yourself with outlets that already share your affinity for “libertarian” ideals (Infowars and Oath Breakers both make an appearance) only exposes the piece as advertisement over information. Wilson says it himself when stating that Trump-era media culture is all “fake.” You either exploit that purpose or become exploited by it. There’s no better way to combat the latter than this.

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An image from DEATH ATHLETIC.