'Knock Down The House' Trailer: Go Inside Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez's Run For Office

29-year-old New Yorker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become something of a pop culture superstar for her progressive ideals, no-nonsense approach to politics, and active social media presence. Now a new Netflix documentary will provide an inside look at how she became the youngest woman to ever serve in Congress. Knock Down the House follows Ocasio-Cortez and three other women – Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin – as they ran for office last year. Check out the trailer below.

Rachel Lears (The Hand That Feeds) serves as the documentary's cinematographer, co-writer, producer, and director, and she's already made a big splash with this film. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this past January, where it won the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary and the Festival Favorite Award, and it also enjoyed a nice reception at the South by Southwest Film Festival last month. Netflix paid a record-breaking $10 million for the worldwide distribution rights.

We're living in a tough time, and it's easy for reasonable people to fall into despair at the horrors this administration is inflicting. Donald Trump has taken a huge toll on our nation's collective psyche, and there's some irony in the fact that a story like this one – about people who come from humble backgrounds, truly care about their constituents' problems, and are fed up with the status quo – is the truthful version of a lie about himself that he's tried to pass off on his supporters for years.

Will this movie provide a road map for others hoping to shake up the system? Ocasio-Cortez is an inspiring, charismatic, and intelligent figure, and though she's the only one of the four candidates in this documentary to actually get elected, there's reason for hope. "For one of us to make it through, a hundred of us have to try," someone says. Hopefully the film, with its millions of potential viewers on Netflix, will inspire a few more reasonable people to try.

Knock Down the House will be available to stream on Netflix starting May 1, 2019.