‘Girls State’ Review: ‘Boys State’ Doc Duo Checks in on the Equivalent (but Not Equal) Mock-Government Program
variety.comLisa Kennedy The list of accomplishments high school student Emily Worthmore reels off early in “Girls State” sounds impressive at first.
Then it becomes a bit concerning. It’s not that the personable teen from suburban St. Louis has padded her resume — hardly. It’s that her list has the feeling of a too tightly wound drive to hit the right milestones on the way to being, as she hopes, the president in 2040. “Every election I’ve put myself in, I’ve won,” she says, “since fourth grade.” So it comes as no surprise that Worthmore is among three young women featured in the Sundance-debuting documentary who have set their sights on the governorship of Missouri Girls State.
For their engaging female-focused followup to 2020’s Texas-set “Boys State,” co-directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss traveled to the Show Me State in June of 2022 to show us the American Legion Auxiliary’s annual program for high school girls, which brings in delegates from big cities and rural burgs alike.
In a rich twist, Missouri Boys State is taking place on the same college campus: Lindenwood University, in St. Charles, about 30 miles northeast of St.
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