Ines Hofmann Kanna

Enemies of the State is the strange saga of Matt DeHart, whose tale of government persecution is narrative quicksand. Wisely, the filmmakers stage this odd story in all of its intricate confusion as a kind of documentary thriller, complete with reenactments, that leave the viewer to try to tease out the truth of the matter.

The beauty of documentarian Sonia Kennebeck’s Enemies of The State is watching all the intricate details of espionage suspect Matt DeHart’s story being both created and then dismantled. Someone says in the film, “There’s no way of knowing where the truth lies,” but in the latter half of the documentary, you get pretty close. As Matt DeHart would tell you, disinformation is a powerful tool in the world of espionage. Turns out it’s useful in filmmaking too.