This Is America(1977)

An Outrageously Shocking Expose

This Is America is a shock documentary that explores the unconventional and extreme underbelly of American culture. Inspired by the provocative style of films like Mondo Cane, it opens with graphic footage of crashes and collisions from racing events before pivoting to examine fringe sexual practices and subcultures. The film documents a pornographic awards ceremony, nude beauty pageants, sex therapy sessions, and the manufacturing of adult novelties. Raw and unflinching, This Is America presents a deliberately sensational portrait of marginalized communities and taboo behaviors that existed largely outside mainstream awareness. It's a transgressive look at what lay beneath the surface of 1970s American society.