ICE documentary "They're Here" leans on horror conventions to portray Operation Metro Surge

A new 25-minute film follows Minneapolis residents who tracked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and helped protect their neighbors during Operation Metro Surge.

Filmmaker Rachel Mueller said documenting what was happening in her own community felt like a responsibility.

"There's a pretty clear role I feel like we have in society, which is one of documentation, of understanding and making sense of the world around us," Mueller said. "And this is my community and my neighborhood, and it just felt very clear what I needed to be doing in that moment."

Rather than presenting the story as a traditional documentary, the filmmakers lean into the conventions of a horror movie.

Director Laura Poitras described what unfolded in Minneapolis as "a descent into hell," calling it "dystopian," "nightmarish" and an "occupation" by a "paramilitary force."

"All of these things, I would call them types of horror," Poitras said.

Dashcam video, surveillance footage and cellphone images put viewers directly on the streets, capturing moments that can be difficult to watch because, for many Minnesotans, they were real.

"It really takes you back to that moment, and it's gonna be cathartic, I hope," filmmaker Adam Mellion said. "And just, yeah, kind of get back in that mindset."

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival before making its way to festivals around the country. Now, it is returning to the community where the story unfolded for a screening at the Riverview Theater. 

"This is the most special screening," Mellion said. "That's what I've been waiting for since the moment this project got started — is in this theater, with this community. I've been imagining this happening."

For the filmmakers, the film is not only about documenting fear. It also examines how Minneapolis residents responded.

"We hope that people understand that resistance matters, and that people have to stand up and respond to this kind of abuse of power and violence and protect each other," Poitras said.