'Knock Down the House' looks beyond Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to capture a movement

"In the beginning, the fundamental question is, 'Why you? Why do you think you can do this?'" Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez notes in Knock Down the House. There are, as the documentary has already pointed out, a million reasons why she's not the obvious choice for New York's 14th Congressional District.

In the end, though, the answer she gives is the only one that matters: "Because no one else would."

It's a line that inspires cheers and fist-pumps, the perfect motto for an up-and-comer positioned as the David to incumbent Joe Crowley's Goliath. What makes Knock Down the House so compelling, though, is that it digs beyond the pretty soundbites and packaged-for-TV narratives to show us not just who and what is happening in American politics right now, but how and why.

Given Ocasio-Cortez's meteoric rise from New York City bartender to DC superstar, it's no surprise that Knock Down the House focuses most heavily on her. But she's only one of four subjects. The others are Cori Bush from Missouri's 1st District, which includes the place where Michael Brown was killed; Amy Vilela from Nevada's 4th Congressional District, whose daughter died after being denied care over an insurance issue; and Paula Jean Swearengin, a Senate candidate in West Virginia who wants to take on the coal industry.

All four are contextualized here as part of a broader movement to bring fresh faces – women, people of color, and others who don't fit the usual mold – into American government, aided by organizations like Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress.

Those who follow politics closely may not find a ton of new information here. For the rest of us, however, it's a chance to consider just how entrenched the establishment is, and what the cost is of that status quo.

Director Rachel Lears is blessed with compelling subjects (these are, after all, people charismatic enough to convince thousands to vote for them), and she's also got an eye for little moments that feel like entire stories on their own – like the epic side-eye Ocasio-Cortez gives to sum up her feelings about Crowley's campaign brochure.

In another funny, cringe-y scene, Crowely self-consciously rolls up his sleeves during a debate that isn't going his way, presumably to signal that he's ready to get to work for his constituents.

Knock Down the House makes no bones about where it stands with these candidates and their positions. Parts of the film even seem like they could double as campaign videos, they're so sympathetic and flattering to these politicians. But it's preferable to mealy-mouthed both-sides-ism, and in any case the goal here isn't really to get you to vote for these people. The elections they're working toward have already come and gone.

It's to encourage citizens to take a good, hard look at our current political system, and ask ourselves what we stand to gain by shaking it up. The attitude it takes toward these women's rivals isn't so much anger as it is frustration, as when Bush notes that, sure, Lacy Clay may have seniority in Congress, but "does it count for us?" Is he using that power to serve his people? Or is it time to replace him with someone who will?

As positively as Knock Down the House frames its core subjects, it's clear-eyed about the difficulties these women face in their runs for office – not least of which is an existing political machine designed to keep them out. At one point, Steven Horsford, Vilela's competition, gets a cushy donation from Crowley, because, an advisor notes, "If Amy wins against an establishment Democrat, things start to look more hopeful for a scrappy woman from the Bronx."

Even once these candidates start to gain traction, the fear of losing looms large: "I get scared of the cynicism that could result from people really believing in something and it not happening," Ocasio-Cortez admits.

In Ocasio-Cortez's case, of course, that fear proved unfounded. Knock Down the House's most moving moments come at the end, as the results come in for New York, and Ocasio-Cortez thrills in her unexpected victory. No doubt you'll have seen some of that footage in news reports already, but it packs a fresh emotional punch after 70-odd minutes of following her on the campaign trail.

For others, the ending isn't so happy. Even there, though, the lasting sentiment is one of empowerment, rather than cynicism. These people may have lost their elections. But doesn't it say something that such ordinary folk could even get this far? Perhaps the time really has never been riper to, in the words of Swearengin, "raise some hell, and take our lives back."