Sometimes thinking about your home state can feel complicated, because while it’s your home, the events and issues and controversies of the state can make people think differently of it. With plenty of controversies but also having the most residents, Texas does have a distinct cultural identity, and Texan native director Richard Linklater explores its different sides, including the sides unheard of, through the three-part God Save Texas. Teaming up with Alex Stapleton and Iliana Sosa, they tackle the Huntsville prison complex, the Houston oil industry, and the borders of El Paso, but they do so through a compassionate, personal perspective that simply and subtly shifts our understanding of the Lone Star State, and America as a whole.

God Save Texas is actually based on a book, but you wouldn’t know it at first because the stories are vastly different. That being said, it does have the same approach, talking specifically about their respective topics through personal anecdotes about their friends and neighbors. This approach makes the show stand out from other docuseries because you can feel that the directors have a personal stake in their topics, and it makes it so compelling.