There’s a very common turn of phrase in the United Kingdom: “Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.” There have been moments in time where something extraordinary happens that has life-changing effect and people turn to each other in disbelief that such a thing could happen in real life. Commonly, you might see such events in a film including ones this reviewer has discussed on this site but would hardly comprehend the same thing happening in the world we live in. This may well be the reaction of many when they watch Welcome to Leith.
Whilst this is most definitely a documentary, it is set up essentially a bit like a fictional thriller film with fast cuts, the feature of a prominent antagonist and organisations like the Southern Poverty Law Centre trying to defeat the antagonist to save the day. There were points where it almost didn’t quite feel real albeit not in a staged way. This style may be at times slightly distracting but it serves as a comfort for audiences who would struggle to process the severity of the information. This serves as both a negative and a positive point for Welcome to Leith. Whilst comfort may be necessary to cope with the shocking nature of the actual events shown on the screen, it has the potential to enable a sense of denial about a very serious issue in the present time.
If nothing else, Welcome To Leith could be perceived as a rather in-depth argument for gun control in the United States. The fact that Cobb, a white supremacist and terrorist with questions raised over his mental illness, and his group of supporters very easily get a hold of a lot of weaponry with enough ammunition to kill the residents of Leith many times over is a sign that perhaps gun regulation may not be the worst thing to come into the United States. With some degree of control, Cobb may not have been able to exact a lot of the extreme behaviour that he does throughout the documentary.
Welcome To Leith is not a documentary for the light-hearted but it is an essential watch for anyone who cares about the world outside of their own immediate personal circle.
You can buy tickets here.