A Gray State - Werner Herzog Documentary Production (2017)

A documentary about the mysterious death of fringe political filmmaker David Crowley, who was found dead alongside members of his family in their suburban Minnesota home in January of 2015.

Filmmaker (and occasional Salon contributor) Erik Nelson’s absorbing documentary “A Gray State,” is an intriguing psychological thriller and cautionary tale.

A young, budding filmmaker named David Crowley, his wife Komel and their daughter Rani, were found dead in their Apple Valley, MN home. Crowley was working on an independent film called “Gray State” which features the eerie tag line, “By consent or conquest.” He self-funded the trailer, and clips from the ambitious project — which is set in a dystopian world where a government shutdown was eminent — illustrate Crowley’s potential as a filmmaker. And, yet, the development of the project also illustrates its creator's spiraling anti-government paranoia.

Nelson’s doc, executive produced by Werner Herzog, showcases Crowley’s genius and madness through copious amounts of video footage and selfies. He was an advocate for Rand Paul, and in contact with alt-right radio talk show host, Alex Jones. Crowley was also a Christian, one who married a Muslim (she had a successful business and made fabulous artisanal birthday cakes on the side) without embracing Islam. His tours in Iraq and Afghanistan left him PTSD.

As “A Gray State” unfolds, the truth is, as one interviewee says, “stranger and sadder” than fiction. Nelson takes viewers on a wild ride down a rabbit hole full of conspiracy theorists, news reporters, friends and family members, all of whom are interviewed about the case, each with their own idiosyncratic perspective. Nelson seamlessly weaves together video and audio clips along with Crowley’s home movies to provide details about David's life, work, family and sad, violent death.