‘All About The Money’ Review – Contrarian Revolutionary? A Revealing Portrait Of A Complex, Communist One Percenter [Sundance 2026]

James Cox Chambers, Jr, also known as Fergie Chambers, is rich. Not is rich in the sense that he lives a comfortable lifestyle; he is like Richie Rich. He hails from the Cox Family, which boasts notable lineage such as 1920 Presidential candidate James Cox. Cox Enterprises is a mega conglomerate dabbling in communications and media ventures, to name a few. Needless to say, money is not a problem for the family, but Fergie renounced his position as heir to the fortune in favor of becoming a communist. The documentary All About The Money offers a revealing, if not contradictory, profile of Fergie as he builds a communist community in Massachusetts, while at the same time appearing to be a walking contradiction of his professed revolutionary beliefs. This is the story of a complex man who, despite his vocal and forthrightness, remains an enigma.

Now, for his part, Fergie welcomes skepticism. Fergie is an open book about his family’s wealth and his own privilege. He is, after all, a member of the 0.01%. In 2023, he liquidated his family trust for a sum believed to exceed $250 million. He reveals that the Great Recession radicalized him. He runs contrary to many in his economic station. A self-described communist and activist, he realizes his dream of creating a communist revolutionary base in Alford, Massachusetts. Against the backdrop of the Berkshires, this former member of the American bourgeoisie set out to plant a flag against the very economic system that his family and many others had been the architects and beneficiaries of.

The community sits on a property in rural Massachusetts, comprising six houses and a barn. Rent and expenses are paid for, with the emphasis on disrupting and eventually destroying the hypercapitalist system that he is a product of. The barn is meant to become a gym, serving as a Marxist-Leninist counter to the macho, right-leaning, capitalist-infused gyms that dominate the landscape. And yet, as the film reveals, the gym and its aims fail, thanks in part to zoning issues.  

Even with all his vast resources and dogged determination, some dreams cannot leap beyond the idea stage into reality. Why not fight city hall as it were? Fergie has no shortage of money, even as he backs political efforts and projects.

And yet, it could be argued that when the going gets tough, he cuts and runs.

The film profiles residents of this community in Alford, including Paige Belanger, who, along with several others, was arrested in 2023 after they attacked the offices of Elbit Systems, in the wake of the October 7th attacks. Now, to his credit, he paid for the legal costs, including a court-ordered restitution to Elbit Systems. He paid Belanger severance. However, Fergie left the United States for Tunisia, where he became involved with Club African, a soccer team. 

To many, his cutting and running to another country, without an extradition practice, seems an inherent contradiction to his professed belief to tear down the US economic and political system. No doubt his wealth and privilege afford him the luxury, which he acknowledges, that ordinary and less-connected activists do not have. He goes on to even recognize the hypocrisy. He even welcomes cynical looks and skepticism over his actions and political involvements.

“They should be afraid and skeptical,” he says, “of a highly wealthy white member of the American bourgeoisie.” This blunt revelation from a member, even an ex-member, of the American ruling class is refreshing. And yet, for all that Fergie is open and revealing, there is a question over whether or not this is a facade or the real deal.

Filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea does not have to do much peeling behind the curtain. Fergie is more than willing to share. He opens up about his fractured family life. He was committed to psychiatric institutions during his teen years due to drug abuse. It is easy from a surface level to see how his years of trauma and a lack of family support have led to this sort of open rebellion.

Some may look at this documentary and come away with the idea that this is a case of a spoiled rich kid, rebelling because Mommy and Daddy didn’t love him enough. Some may see this all as a need for attention. Fergie does not shy away from these charges. Others may see him as an outlier, a traitor to his class who decided to take a stand. There is no shortage of Lenin and communist paraphernalia around him and his living quarters. The film wisely gives us an unvarnished look at Fergie. Complexity runs as vast and deep as his family fortune.

And yet, O’Shea seems to be at the very least articulating this idea from the title of the film. It is all about the money. Fergie even says, “How can I manage the resources in a way that is interesting and that he can feel useful?” He may believe in the tenets of communism. He may desire the end of the capitalist system. But what cannot be denied is that this is a portrait of a person with immense wealth. He can build or destroy anything he wishes. His wealth and connections are keys to open any locked door.

That is what O’Shea is arriving at with this film. All his dreams, his ambitions, none of them would be remotely possible, nor would his stature and status be possible without his wealth. He desires to destroy the system, and yet it is that wealth that affords him the opportunities on which he stands to make these pronouncements and denunciations.

It takes money to make money, or in this case, it takes money to destroy a system. There are both ironies and contradictions galore. Ultimately, that is O’Shea’s most significant strength with this film. Personalities aside. This is a documentary profiling the facets and reaches of ungodly wealth and unbridled connections.

Post script: We learn before the credits of this film that, after watching it, Fergie offers to cover the film’s budget and pay O’Shea in cash so the film would never be screened. O’Shea declined, saying it wasn’t all about the money. Fergie agreed with her assessment.

Fergie proves both revealing and enigmatic at once.

All About the Money had its World Premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. 

Directors: Sinéad O’Shea

Rated: NR

Runtime: 95m