While Fox was promoting his film project McAleer confronted him about the historical records of people being able to ignite methane in water at "burning springs" long before fracking started.
[citation needed] McAleer told Politico he was motivated to make the film by what he saw as the "one-sided approach taken by the media, 'outsiders' and 'urban elites'" on the fracking process.
Jeannette Catsoulis, a film reviewer for the New York Times, noted that the movie was methodically researched and showed the "sheer complexity" of fracking.
Miriam Bale of the New York Daily News wrote, "With many of McAleer’s facts coming from casual Internet searches (backed by boring shots of the computer screen), the accuracy of this crowdsourced documentary — funded by small donations on Kickstarter — seems as reliable as a Wikipedia entry.
"[11] John Anderson of Variety found the film's use of staged confrontations ineffective and manipulative, writing that "McAleer’s sandbagging of Carol Collier, executive director of the Delaware River Basin Commission, seems pointless, except as an effort to get an anti-fracking official to look like she’s got something to hide.
McAleer and McElhinney claimed to have returned all funds raised from companies or senior executives in the gas industry, according to Valerie Richardson of the Colorado Observer.
Erich Schwartzel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that, "The filmmakers want to avoid their work being labelled as pro-industry propaganda, but support for the project has been strongest among those who want to see just that.
[needs update] AXS.tv timed the debut to coincide with the theatrical release of Promised Land, Matt Damon and John Krasinski's feature film about how the fracking debate affects a rural town.
“We want people talking and using #AXSTV when they watch and discuss it.” [17] Phelim McAleer accused the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of censorship when the organization invited him to speak at a two-day joint IMF-Oxford University conference on commodity prices in Washington, D.C. but refused to show a clip of FrackNation that suggests fracking would ease dependence on imports in some Eastern European countries.