User reviews

Interesting documentary about a fascinating, layered topic.

However the pacing was stilted, with only a very small part of the documentary focused on covering the rush process.

The director also interjected into the film multiple times about her experiences with alopecia, and how those experiences paralleled to the experiences of the girls pursuing a sorority. Her experiences and stories with alopecia were extremely important and meaningful, however they didn't relate super directly to the main content of the documentary in an obvious way, and the interjections broke up the pacing and emotional swell of the film.

Went into this doc hoping (and expecting) a deep dive into sorority culture and the rush process. Not necessarily a hit piece, but something that goes beyond surface level. What I got instead was a compilation of things I could have found with a brief Google search and interviews with a director about her alopecia, desperately stretching to make it relevant to the rest of the documentary. I want to be clear that I found the director's statements about growing up with alopecia to be heartbreaking and I feel a lot of sympathy for what she dealt with, but if I wanted to watch a doc about alopecia, I would have done that. This felt like a real missed opportunity to dive into the complexities of sorority culture in terms of sexism, classism, racism, and ritual, but it barely scratched the surface.

The director really wanted an inside look into sororities rushing, however it was very apparent she couldn't get anyone to really talk about it. So it turned into a boring character story where the director made the terrible mistake of making themselves apart of the story where they was no correlation to do so whatsoever. If you couldn't get any of the students to talk, then shift the story more to the sorority consultants or previous graduates. Easily could have been cut down to 60 minutes.

And the first 3 minute intro is an absolute piss poor start to give the viewer a false expectation of what they perceive to expect.

What a weird documentary. The director made herself a major figure in the documentary with a very tenuous connection to her own insecurity about having alopecia. I mean that's a worthy story to tell, which a lot of young people would surely benefit from, but it was strange to include in this film. The director takes up a lot of time talking verrrrry slowly with this weird affect to her voice, to talk about things that happened during filming - but she could've been covered it all in 1/4 the time, and spent more time on actually covering the subject at hand. It was very off-putting. As a result, the whole documentary only scratches the surface of what it claimed to be analyzing.

"Poor me" story from the director who made the entire doc about herself and lazily tries to equate her alopecia with Bama Rush. If you're saying, "huh?", then believe me, the disaster of watching it is actually worse than it sounds. Glosses over important issues such as racism, eating disorders, etc. In favor of non-stop flashy pop ups of Tik Toks. Literally 30 minutes of the doc is dedicated to the directors own plight with alopecia. Sloppy filmmaking with no point of view or really anything to say. If you're looking for saliciousness, there isn't any, and ditto if you're looking to learn anything.

I was highly anticipating this film. I felt it lacked a little depth - there was such room to dive deeper into the exclusive nature of sororities and fraternities and there are way more secrets to be shared (coming from a former sorority girl). I felt there needed to be more concersation about how intense the actual rush process is - how expensive, how time consuming, how emotionally intensive it really is. Hugeeeee miss here. Also could have dove deeper about how the sorority girls rank those PNMs. There's a lot of undercover discrimination that goes on there, too. Overall, I think this documentary focuses too much on mental health and what it takes to look like a sorority girl than exposing the truth of what rush is. This was a bit disappointing, lacked focus and was extremely underwhelming.

If you think you're getting a juicy exposé on Alabama sororities, you are going to be disappointed. It is not an exposé at all. In fact, around 50% of the screen time is dedicated to the director of this movie who trauma dumps about being bald, comparing her baldness to rush in some contrived analogy that makes zero sense. When the women of color share their stories about the racism they faced at the University, heavy themes are explored. A Black alum explains how a cross was burned on the porch of her black sorority. Not even 10 minutes of screen time are given to her. Instead, the director inserts herself and cries about being bald once again, something incredibly jarring to see in juxtaposition with the real injustice and trauma that these women face. Bald lady aside, this is just not the documentary you think it is. I literally learned nothing new and it was incredibly boring. Do not waste your time. It was hilarious when the director kept inserting herself into the documentary, however. I cannot make this up.

I think a lot of people on here don't understand that tying a personal angle into a documentary is literally something you can do? The director's journey with acceptance and conformity relates heavily to what young girls go through, in these sororities and outside. Documentaries can be as broad or focused as the medium calls for. This film was not a bombshell expose, but I don't think it ever claimed to be. Subjects were interesting, I enjoyed Rachel Fleit's commentary, the film was shot well and had a nice flow to it. 6/10 because it lacked focus in some areas, but I still think it was effective in it's efforts to approach what really is such a broad and cultural phenomenon.

This is marketed as a window into Greek life at Alabama, but I have no idea what is happening here. There is virtually nothing about fraternities and sororities, and a lot of scenes of the director re-saying information that's already been said, more or less verbatim. For example, first they tell you what a NY Times article says, and then they'll pan to the director saying, "There was a New York Times article..." This is when she's not talking about alopecia, begging the question: Why didn't you make a movie about alopecia? It seems to be what she actually wants to talk about, and uses a handful of awkward people pursuing sorority life to talk a lot about her trauma from wearing wigs. Honestly, it's baffling.

Hilarious reading these mean reviews by women who are clearly part of the sorority ecosystem that's exposed in the documentary. Obviously none of them have seen a documentary before or know how documentary creators operate. If you're here only to critique the person who created this because you're weirdly invested in Greek life, then you completely missed the point of this documentary. It explored how sororities and fraternities are incubators of the patriarchy and how they leave women with body image issues and anxiety disorders all in the name of the male gaze. This is a great documentary if you aren't a brainwashed cult member of Alabama segregationist Greek life. One of the worst parts is when the one woman of color is being groomed into becoming blonde and straightening her hair to fit in.

ACTUALLY NOTHING TO DO ABOUT BAMA SORORITIES. DO NOT WATCH UNLESS YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET UPSET ABOUT WASTING YOUR TIME. The director is constantly stopping the documentary at times to make it fully about herself who by the way didn't go to bama and wasn't EVEN IN A SORORITY. I understand that she has her own stuff but if that's what the documentary was about then maybe change the name? Also a 1/4 is of the film was them just talking about the documentary and how everyone is going to take it the rumors about it. I'm writing this while watching it because it is that bad. Worst documentary i've ever watched and I watch documentaries a lot.

Would have been a good documentary if it weren't for the director making the entire thing about herself.

Sucks you have alopecia but it has absolutely nothing to do with joining a sorority in the state of Alabama.

Trying to compare your struggles with your subject at every turn has single handedly ruined your film and left your audience feeling click baited.

If every scene with the director in it was cut from this film I would have probably rated it an 8 out of 10.

Seeing what these girls put themselves through is absolutely crazy.

Next time keep your issues in check and you might make a decent film.

Unless you have absolutely no idea what Greek life is this documentary is worthless. Half of it was about the director and her personal struggles with alopecia that she (poorly) attempted to relate to Greek life. Focuses mostly on the girls lives way before they're even on campus. Did not document the girls during the rush process and most of the girls ended up dropping out. Shout out to the one active member that said her house was bottom tier lol. The girls that they chose to interview seemed nice but they were generally not the typical girls seen on rush tik tok that most people were hoping for.

I was really looking forward to this documentary, but it completely fell flat on its face. This was more of a documentary about a lonely woman, who has alopecia, and wanted to exploit shy girls who stood no chance at rushing. The girl Makayla, Isabelle, and Holliday are exactly what sororities aren't looking for and definitely don't want. 50% of this documentary was about the director, who never rushed, but consistently tried to compare her baldness to rushing. She kept speaking in a weird whisper as if she was dying, personally seemed like she was trying to garner sympathy from the audience about herself. The only interesting person was Shelby, who I personally think was intelligent enough to stop filming.

Personally, if the documentary had focused on rushing, Greek Life, The Machine, interesting PNMs, this would've been great. But instead focused on probably what I sensed an insecure woman who was jealous of these girls who were in these sororities.

I somewhat enjoyed the documentary, and it's look into this crazy world of rushing into sororities at this Alabama university. Greek life seems like a funnel for the rich to create contacts and connections post college. These young ladies featured seemed to make their entire personality about getting into one of these sororities.

The really strange part of this doc was the director...yes...the director for some oddball reason, decided to insert herself into this doc. The director has suffered from a condition called alopecia, which causes you to you to not have any hair. Ok...this has nothing to do with the doc, yes it's unfortunate, but her condition literally has NOTHING to do with the doc!!! I'm not sure why she wanted to make it about herself, but I found it really bizarre, and incredibly annoying. Her slow whispering way of speaking was off putting as well, not sure if she's like over medicating or what... All in all, the actual parts of the doc, that were actually about rushing, was super interesting. Worth a watch, I guess...

Director adds a self centered and unrelated storyline about herself. Being bald as a women has it's challenges yes , but it's not about you. The connection were stressed and were out of place. If the director wants to talk about her struggles make a doc about that. The part towards the end of the doc the director puts on a wig because she is "scared". Very ridiculous.

Shelby is amazing love to her. For the other girls, I think they were the wrong people to follow.

The whole documentary was an attempt of being deep and "expose" sororities at Bama.

The only discovery made was that the director is self obsessed.

To call this documentary a cinematic endurance test would be an insult to endurance tests themselves. It is an odyssey into the deepest trenches of cinematic catastrophe, a place where even the most hardened masochist would question their life choices.

What should have been an opportunity to delve into the intricate dynamics, pressures, and traditions surrounding sorority rush is lost amidst a sea of self-absorbed monologues. Any small glimpse into the sorority rush process becomes marred by lengthy detours into the director's own struggles with her appearance and self-esteem.

It is an experience so excruciatingly banal that it defies logic, a calamity that should be studied as a cautionary tale for aspiring directors. Save yourself from this journey into oblivion, DO NOT WATCH THIS.

I was raised in Alabama and went to both Bama and Auburn for post-grad education.

The guts of the doc were forced to be cut short because of exactly what she was trying to uncover. If you aren't doing something wrong, why are you trying to stop a documentary and discredit it?

The director is clearly not biased but intrigued because the 2021 rush was so popular on TikTok, making Greek life seem glossy and sparkly. Hopefully this doc will inspire more media attention on UA's Greek life and the controls it has over all of the university's students' lives.

Sororities are about fitting in and pleasing others, which is toxic and scarring behavior. If you're too dense to see the connection between Greek life and the director's struggles with alopecia (wanting to being accepted as you are), then yeah, don't bother. Ignoring and minimizing this perfectly sensible connection is naive and immature.

I would bet that most of the negative reviews here are by Greek-lifers; they are shallow and obviously upset with the director. After having seen how defensive they got at the mere mention of a possible doc being filmed, it's common sense that they would exert efforts to lower its rating. So, 10 stars it is!

Now: I'm not American, I'm not a college student, I'm not a girl. Generally not interested in teen drama, romance, coming of age stuff.

But: even though I found it overall confusing, because of the several storylines (hence the Dude's quote), it is enjoyable.

Personally: it presents a neat image of what, generally speaking, American society can be: competitive, elitist, power grabbing, longing to belong, money driven, secret societies ruled, hypocritical, charming, supportive, well organized, courageous, shiny ... (anything else?) just for this reason I'd recommend watching it.

Anyway: I'd change quite a bit. The 4 girls we are following... simply too many. If we add the consultants, the active members, the "experts", and last but not least the director's own story... wth: simplify man, simplify. Who am I supposed to follow? The director storyline could have been the main focus yes, but it would have been a very different documentary.

I'm not clear what's the focus here: to show the emotional process of getting ready to do the "Rush"? Ie stepping into adulthood? Dealing with past traumas and fears, while asking for help? Longing to be loved no matter what? Forging connections to make a lot of money? The power of social media (i.e. The angry irrational mob)?

The abstract scenes (walking barefoot, swimming in the lake) are weird.

I liked the work done in postproduction: it's edited (mostly) right: didnt like the beginning where we spend 3 min (too long) with fast cuts showing girls screaming with their outfits and whatever, after a menacing and intriguing opening. But: the sound design is really really well done, as well as color.

The 4 girls gave me the impression of acting every now and then: when their speech has all those "like..", "you know...", it's when they are the most authentic but, alas, social media created a generation of actors so not a surprise. Makalya is my fav because of her personality.

On a side note: this whole sorority thing destroys any feminist ideology behind the alleged empowerment of the sororities themselves: they are highly judgmental and hierarchical, and the rank (top, mid, bottom) of each house is decided by... the boys. And the machine, of course, the shadow government. Hilarious: a perfect example of smoke and mirrors. Not clear how the crew could film around the campus after they got those threats, but anyway.

No good footage or enlightening looks into sorority life at all. The girls they followed were charming enough but exploited by the ham-handed direction. How could they have fumbled such interesting subject matter so badly. The director is a poor excuse for a documentarian and is obsessed with herself and her wig. She disturbingly self-inserts throughout the entire film which distracts from what little original footage she managed to capture. . She has little to no understanding of the South or how femininity operates in region. This could have been explored in depth across multiple movies but the director's fundamental disinterest came across in droves. Did she even ever rush a sorority??? Disappointing all around.

Not informative/interesting in the slightest. Seems that the director just wanted an alley to vent on her struggles caused by her alopecia, and oddly chose bama rush to do it? It lacked continuity, and though the director could have gone deep into the craziness of bama rush, she chose to make it about herself. I learned much more about alopecia in this documentary than the culture at the University of Alabama. Hopefully Netflix takes another pass at a Bama rush documentary becuase I think there is a lot of potential there, but this documentary missed terribly.

This paragraph is to get my review to the required number of characters to post.