Film Review: Matt Walsh Does The Work

Am I Racist? is an effectively satirical documentary starring Matt Walsh as he goes on a journey to see if the DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) teachers have a point. The film is produced by The Daily Wire and directed by Justin Folk. Walsh and Folk writing credit with Brian Hoffman and Dallas Sonnier.

Walsh is a popular conservative commentator who had some success with a previous documentary entitled What is a Woman? which dealt with the topic of transgenderism.

After being ousted from a support group that discussed “white guilt”, Walsh dons a hilariously flimsy disguise and becomes certified to teach DEI himself. He encounters some rather notorious figures on this topic such as Kate Slater and Robin DiAngelo as he attempts to implement what he is learning during various sessions and interviews. He also interviews regular people of various races to get their reactions to these ideas.

One of Walsh’s gifts is his deadpan stoicism as he subjects himself to some of most absurd group situations and tries to relay these ideas to others. The interview with DiAngelo is awkward and hysterically funny as reported.

The film is careful enough to attack an ideology and not necessarily a race of people. Another fascinating interview is with Wilfred Reilly, author of Hate Crime Hoax. Walsh and Reilly would likely be in more agreement if Walsh still wasn’t in character as a DEI guy.

There are a couple of scenes that sort of fell flat for me. The film’s effort to ridicule the Jussie Smollett hoax could have been handled differently. I don’t disagree with mocking Smollett at every opportunity, but the method employed in this film could have taken a bit more consideration.

There are some scenes that seem to go on a little too long, but that was likely to help drive home the point the film was really trying to make.

Most of the major production decisions made in this film work rather well. There were a couple of moments where Walsh actually did some acting that would be convincing if one didn’t know the premise.

This film is not without a few flaws, but it is entertaining and educational.