Ghosts of Sugar Land

This documentary was a good view of what it's like to be a young Muslim in USA after 9/11. Also, the heartbreaking feelings behind "Mark´s" friends masks fill all documentary scenario. However, the documentary has very few substance/information. Indeed, it explains almost nothing about why "Mark" became extremist and why his friends thought he was an FBI spy.

I had never heard about this, but it reminded me of an article talking about radicalized teens/young adults in the states. It was pretty good for a 20 min film.

A group of suburban Muslims discuss how their friend got interested in Islamic practices and what led him to convert to Islam.

Ghost of Sugar Land is a short documentary film that was interesting but too brief. The concept of the short documentary would have been executed perfectly if they questioned the group as to why they believe their friend is an FBI informant and give detail on that subject.

Ghost of Sugar Land is a short documentary that was poorly done. A meaningless film that could have been a captivating watch.

Zero point to this "documentary". No information about what he did or what he was saying he believed in.. why would you end it like that? The whole thing was pointless speculation and it ended with one fact that should've been elaborated on and would've made it good. Totally pointless. Really irritating. I was very interested in knowing what happened.

"Suburban Muslims have to learn to live with the consequences of a close friend's actions." That's the official synopsis, yet the documentary is purely just a pointless discussion among uninformed individuals speculating what happened of the 'close friend', without even exploring anything substantial.

The only thing interesting about this documentary is that the interviewees wear superhero masks - supposedly to 'protect' themselves. That too is rendered pointless as it's not like these people are divulging any sensitive information that would affect themselves negatively. Plus, the ill-fit masks are poor disguises and ultimately ineffective without any voice-modulation.

The whole mask thing just seems like a gimmick to incite our inherent excitement and intrigue of controversial topics.

The documentary fails to inform us audiences about what really happened (how and why the friend became involved with ISIS and its extremism), and the whole topic is guided by the interviewed subjects who themselves are very uninformed and are pointlessly speculating about the friend and his fate.

The filmmakers glossed over several aspects and information that would've made this documentary more interesting, especially about the involvement of FBI informants in American Muslim societies and the possibility of the friend being an informant himself.

How this ended up being a winner at Sundance, I have no idea. At the end, this uninformed documentary doesn't attempt to look deeper into the truth or reveal anything pertaining to case. Neither does it really show how the Muslim Americans are affected by the incident discussed. It'll just make you scratch your head at what the point watching this incredibly short documentary was.