SUBURBAN FURY
Robinson Devor
USA, 2024, 120 min, in English
In the early 1970s, the FBI recruited Sara Jane Moore, a conservative mother from the San Francisco suburbs, to infiltrate leftist organizations—but her deeply radicalizing politics complicated her role. Moore takes us back through her recollections and perspectives leading up to the moment where she attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford, and an eerie sense of déjà vu takes hold as the tightrope of tension—between the ideals of the US and the realities we are living through—becomes a stranglehold.
Press
Top 10 Documentaries Of 2025 Matthew Carey, DeadlineA documentation of the unexpected and circuitous radicalization of a once-conservative woman
A chilling, essential look at a Bay Area would-be presidential assassin G.Allen Johnson, San Francisco ChronicleA must-see documentary
Anita Katz, Bay Area MattersFrom Moore’s warped but compellingly expressed perspective
Sarah Feldberg, San Francisco ChronicleEspecially relevant today
Two New Movies Revivify the Portrait-Film Genre Richard Brody, The New YorkerThe strangest and most mysterious documentaries of 2025
A Riveting Documentary Portrait of a Would-Be Presidential Assassin Lovia Gyarke, The Hollywood ReporterRiveting. Bursting with energy of the archives and the thrill of a narrator who can’t quite be trusted.
The Best Documentaries of 2024 Lisa Wong Macabasco, VogueNothing short of riveting, excavating a strange, compelling story from the footnotes of history
A rich documentary about the Housewife Who Tried to Assassinate the President of the United States David Ehrilch, IndiewireFascinating. Paints its subject as a microcosm for the country that produced her
Owen Gleiberman, VarietyA rapt documentary thriller
G.Allen Johnson, San Francisco ChronicleA time capsule of 1970s San Francisco…. The film unfolds like a thriller
RIchard Brody, The New YorkerTo the list of great documentaries rooted in interviews of a single person, such as Shirley Clarke’s ‘Portrait of Jason’ and Jean Eustache’s ’Numero Zero,' add Robinson Devor’s 'Suburban Fury'