What is The Sixth about? A24’s Capitol riot documentary explained

The Sixth, a new documentary from A24 about the Capitol riots, is out now. Here’s what it’s about, who’s in it, how to watch it, and more.

The Capitol riots were a shocking and unprecedented event in American history. They unfolded on January 6, 2021, when a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol in a bid to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which saw Joe Biden win.

Netflix’s recently released documentary The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem attempted to give context to the chaos of that day, examining how 4chan helped to create an online culture that evolved into conspiracy theories and rising distrust of the government. 

But The Sixth – a feature-length true crime style documentary from A24 and Oscar-winning filmmakers Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine – makes January 6 the focus, looking at the individuals whose lives were forever changed by that fateful day.

What is The Sixth about?

Rather than focusing on the rioters, The Sixth takes viewers back to that day and tells the experience through the eyes of six people who were there, including a photographer, a member of Congress, and police officers who were trying to get on with their jobs as the chaos ensued. 

According to A24, the doc is a “visceral portrayal of a city and nation under siege, as well as a testament to the importance of truth, told through the eyes of six individuals who will be forever changed by the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.”

While many of us will remember that day from seeing snippets online, The Sixth weaves together a stack of personal footage from inside the Capitol riots to recreate what happened. It also examines the violence that broke out from the angry crowd, who assaulted officers with poles, batons, and bear spray, a much stronger version of pepper spray. 

Photographer Mel D. Cole, who captured now-infamous images of the Capitol riots, recalls seeing Michael Fanone, a police officer who responded to calls for help. When he arrived, he was brutally attacked by the mob, who beat him with batons, used a stun gun on him, and threatened to kill him with his own firearm. 

Fanone experienced burns, a heart attack, and a traumatic brain injury, and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. In The Sixth, Cole says, “The look on this man’s face was, ‘I am about to f*cking die.’ You don’t see police officers look like that very often… the man pleaded for his life, told people he has kids.” Cole adds that he truly believed Fanone was about to get killed. 

Who’s in The Sixth?

Alongside photographer Mel D. Cole, The Sixth is narrated by various individuals who were trying to get on with their jobs at the Capitol riots.

The narrators include:

• Christina Laury and Daniel Hodges, two DC police officers were at the center of the attack
• Robert J. Contee III, the former Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC who earned the title of acting chief just two days before the riots
• US Representative Jamie Raskin, a congressman who had to contend with the riots just a day after his son’s funeral
• Erica Loewe, the deputy communications director to then-House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn who was trapped in the congressman’s office when the rioters closed in

Speaking further in The Sixth about the January 6 attackers, Cole says, “It’s kind of crazy because if I had to put a dollar on it, I would say everyone there is, ‘Blue lives matter, blue lives matter.’ It didn’t f*cking matter that day.”

How to watch The Sixth on streaming

Although The Sixth was supposed to drop for free streaming on Amazon Prime Video, this isn’t the case. Instead, the documentary is available to buy online via various on-demand services including Apple, Amazon, and Google Play.

The Sixth was released on digital platforms on May 3. According to Raskin, the original plan was changed. In a conversation with Politico, he said, “The subjects were all told that the movie would be available on Prime starting at the beginning of May, and I was certainly telling that to people because the premiere was completely sold out.

“I was telling people they’d be able to access it on Prime Video. And then the Fines told us that although that was the original understanding, it was now not going to be available for streaming on Prime Video and people would have to pay for it. That obviously will change by millions the number of people who will see it.”

The Sixth release controversy explained

Alongside the online release, A24 has been accused of not promoting The Sixth as much as it should have, with some left wondering whether the upcoming 2024 US election is partly to blame. 

Raskin added, “I don’t know exactly what is behind the sudden reticence of showing and promoting the film… I think it would absolutely sweep the country if it were made available to the public easily. But former President Donald Trump and right-wing forces in the country are on a daily basis trying to rewrite the history of what happened.”

A24

Cole also told Politico, “I’m very disappointed in the lack of publicity and the lack of promotion that’s coming from A24. I love their films and I think they always put their all into what they accomplish. I thought that this would have that same kind of push.”

When asked whether he believed the reason to be political, he replied, “What else could it be? They paid for a film to get made and then don’t even do the simplest things to promote it. It’s strange — like, not even Instagram or social media, but you have your logo in the film?”

The filmmaking duo were just as confused, but they did say, “We’re very grateful for the huge commitment A24 put behind this film.” The outlet goes on to say that the real reason it hasn’t been as promoted as much as other movies or had a general streaming release could simply be because documentaries aren’t as much of a priority. 

Is The Sixth worth watching?

Although it’s too early for a Rotten Tomatoes score, The Sixth has received numerous positive reviews so far. 

The Washington Post said it “should be seen by all,” adding, “This chilling documentary by Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, immersing a viewer in the sounds, sights, sensations, and shock of January 6, 2021, is best watched not at a public screening, with a restive and possibly argumentative audience, but at home, attended to with sober concentration and preferably older children or grandchildren by one’s side. Civics lessons rarely come this disturbing or this convincing.”

The Saturday Evening Post added in its four-star review, “Fine and Nix take unprecedented pains to not only place us in the middle of the melee – scrupulously informing us, through ingeniously designed animated diagrams, precisely where we are in and around the Capitol – but also behind those locked, barricaded doors, where staffers gaze tremblingly through the windows, watching an approaching swarm of enraged humanity.”

Find even more amazing new movies and TV shows streaming this month. If that’s not enough, find out what’s in store this year for K-dramas coming to Netflix.