‘14th’ Review: Ava DuVernay Defends Vital Constitutional Amendment

14^th, the documentary directed by Ava DuVernay that premiered Friday night as the closing-night film of the New York Film Festival, begins with several American presidents taking the oath of office: FDR, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Carter, Reagan… each of them swearing to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

We know where this sequence is headed – it culminates with Donald Trump swearing that oath to become the 47^th president. Then it immediately cuts to Trump sitting down for an interview with Kristen Welker of NBC News who asks him, “Don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Trump’s response: “I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me.” Astonishing.

Trump’s disregard for the Constitution and blatant violation of his oath go back to his first term – for example, flouting the Foreign Emoluments Clause. In his second term he has brazenly attempted to take an axe to a key provision of the 14^th Amendment that guarantees birthright citizenship. Section 1 reads in part, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Couldn’t be clearer, right? That critical section of the amendment ratified in 1868 resolved the status of African Americans, who under slavery, of course, were not deemed citizens.

DuVernay’s compelling documentary argues that amendments 13, 14, and 15 – passed within five years of the conclusion of the Civil War — amounted to a “Constitutional reset” that clarified rights for all Americans, including newly freed slaves. The filmmaker’s previous documentary, the Oscar-nominated 13^th, examined that concise amendment which, in 32 words, formally abolished slavery. The new film, in a sense, is the sequel, going section by section through the far more expansive text of the 14^th Amendment.

The documentary’s overall thesis is that the 14^th Amendment laid the groundwork for a multiracial democracy (for that reason, it’s easy to see why Trump would attack it). Historians, political leaders and other experts interviewed in the film stress Section 1’s equal protection clause, making the vital point that equality movements in the U.S. have relied on that clause as their legal justification.

It’s highly unlikely the 13^th, 14^th, or 15^th amendments would have passed if the secessionist Southern states had not been compelled to endorse them as a condition for readmittance to the Union. As the film explores, white supremacists in the South wasted little time undermining the 14^th Amendment – as well as the 15^th, which guaranteed voting rights without regard to “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” They did so through a campaign of terror that included the lynching of thousands of African Americans, and by mythologizing the “Lost Cause” fantasy that genteel antebellum society had been a boon to Black and white alike and that secession had been about preserving states’ rights.

Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment, as the film examines, addressed those who had taken up arms against the Union, barring from political or military office any person who had engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” in violation of their oath to defend the Constitution. That, the film argues convincingly, should have immediately disqualified Trump from office in view of his urging supporters on January 6 to “fight like hell” to overturn a free and fair election.

Not only that, of course, but Trump pardoned the vast majority of the insurrectionists on his first day back in office in 2025 and has attempted to create a compensation fund for them (violating, the film suggests, section 4 of the 14^th Amendment).

Most Republicans have caved to Trump since he took office the first time. 14^th makes space for a couple who refused to fold – former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Steve Schmidt, a senior campaign adviser to Sen. John McCain during the latter’s 2008 run for president. Schmidt states it clearly: “We are in one of the great moral crises” in U.S. history. The virtue of DuVernay’s film is that it reframes our understanding of the importance of the 14^th Amendment and its moral purchase.

14^th also serves as a warning – noting that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump’s executive order that denied birthright citizenship but not in a unanimous decision. It was 6-3. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented, with Thomas claiming the amendment only spoke to the condition and status of freed slaves. The film makes it clear that Trump and his allies won’t give up on negating birthright citizenship – and how could one expect otherwise given Trump’s blithe disregard of the Constitution?

Stylistically, 14^th resembles 13^th – with beautifully lit interviews, stunning animation of still photos and dynamic graphical elements. Its most daring thrust is incorporating excerpts of incisive comedy sets by comics George Carlin, Paul Mooney, Hasan Minhaj and Neal Brennan (Carlin brilliantly points out that America was “founded by slaveowners who wanted to be free.” Mooney hilariously embroiders on how “white folks” were never happier than when they owned Black people). Inevitably, 14^th is didactic – a history lesson, if you will, but the kind every American should experience if they want to continue living under a form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

I don’t foresee 14^th enjoying the same level of awards success as DuVernay’s 13^th, which showed how American society had essentially re-created the conditions of slavery through mass incarceration. That film had a very human face, as viewers came to see how whites stigmatized Black people as inherently suspect, reconstituting forced servitude through other means. The 14^th Amendment is far more abstract and thus less likely to stir emotional reactions.

The film serves as a fitting call to action reminding those who believe in a multiracial and multi-faith democracy that “we are all founders and framers” of the Constitution. For that, DuVernay deserves the highest praise.

Title: 14^th
Festival: New York Film Festival
Distributor: Netflix
Release date: December 4, 2026
Director: Ava DuVernay
Cast: Stacey Abrams, Eric Foner, Sherrilyn Ifill, Jeff Flake, Steve Schmidt, Hasan Piker, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jelani Cobb, Lonnie Bunch, David Blight, Robert S. Chang, Amanda Frost, Dean Withers, Carla Hayden, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), Donald T. Critchlow
Running time: 1 hr 40 mins