Welcome to Leith is a documentary, but it might as well be a thriller. Directors Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker shoot the film with harrowing, slowly moving B-roll, an ominous score, and a structure designed like a cliffhanger, home-invasion movie.
The story at the center of Welcome to Leith is so surreal that it’s hard to believe you’re watching a documentary. When Craig Cobb first moved to the minuscule town of Leith, North Dakota – population 24 – residents thought he was just an unassuming old man who enjoyed his privacy. In reality, he was a neo-Nazi planning to buy up parcels of land and turn the town into a refuge for white supremacists. Welcome to Leith packages this strange tale in the form of a riveting war film, with the Leith residents battling against Cobb in an attempt to retake their formerly serene hamlet.
