Dinesh D'Souza's brand is easy to spot after five successful features.
His documentaries are conservative op-eds, brimming with fiery attacks on progressive leaders and principles. Critics pounced, and seized, on them, revealing their liberal biases in the process.
Still, a D'Souza film had a distinct feel, recognizable to those on both sides of the ideological aisle.
"2000 Mules" is different, radically so in almost every way except one. You'll never hear the arguments made in the film in the media or other traditional ecosystems.
Except you should. And, if the film has the impact it deserves, that might very well change.
D'Souza is once again front and center, but this time he's taking on a topic that can get someone banned by Big Tech – questioning the 2020 election results.
We're allowed to doubt what went down in 2016, but cultural enforcers insist that can't be applied to the Trump/Biden battle. And, to be fair, Team Trump did a lousy job of stating their case in the weeks following Joe Biden's eventual victory.
The film opens with D'Souza and radio stars from the Salem Media galaxy – think Dennis Prager, Sebastian Gorka and more – acknowledging that reality. They're also torn on whether they believe Democrats cheated to drag Biden over the finish line.
"I'm agnostic," Prager says. The conversation is uncomfortable and raw.
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D'Souza then introduces us to True the Vote, a group dating back to 2009 that fights for election integrity. They've investigated the 2020 presidential results in a way previous generations couldn't. They examined the geotracking footprints of people around ballot boxes in swing states to learn their behaviors during the critical weeks prior to Election Day.
And True the Vote smelled a rat.
"2000 Mules" methodically lets the group share their findings, and it's like watching a "Friday the 13th" sequel in harrowing slow motion.
Is this our country?
Geotracking data, gleaned from cell phones, showed the movement of people dubbed "mules" who deposited ballots in boxes in critical parts of the country. Think the Atlanta neighborhood in Georgia, for example.
This isn't a Joe or Jane dropping off their parents' or neighbors' ballots. These are people with a fistful of ballots, sneakily depositing them at all hours of the day.
The data tracks these individuals, showing how their patterns raise alarm. These mules repeatedly drove to (presumably liberal) nonprofit organizations over short bursts of time while also visiting ballot drop-off locations.
Over and again.
Suspicious. But "2000 Mules" has more. True the Vote also obtained video surveillance footage from select ballot box locations. Some mules wore blue surgical gloves while dropping off the ballots, instantly removing them once the deed was done.
Others took pictures of themselves to prove they visited the boxes in question.
Who does that?
More questions remain. Did money change hands? Who goes to ballot drop boxes in the middle of the night, with or without gloves? And why did so many ballot box locations lack video footage in the first place?
D'Souza's approach here is cautious, an Everyman learning about these findings along with us. The material demands nothing less, and D'Souza respects the process.
"2000 Mules" makes a convincing case in very short order, but the filmmakers have other anecdotal evidence that adds to the sense of unease.
Could this be true? What happens next? We're already seeing some movement in Georgia on the issue, but the details here deserve much more than that.
Can this documentary be debunked? Are there other, credible explanations for what we see in the film?
The narrative in "2000 Mules" would rock the nation if confirmed. For that reason alone this chilling documentary should be taken seriously. It also cannot be the end of the story. Let legitimate critics have a whack at the details gathered here, not just partisans eager to slam anything with D'Souza's name attached.
If the methods exposed by Team D'Souza aren't stopped, who's to say the 2022 elections, or beyond, won't be compromised?
HiT or Miss: "2000 Mules" may be the most important documentary of the year, if not the decade. That's not hyperbole.
(@SharylAttkisson) 
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