“I knew it was secret but I also knew that I’d pledged service to the American people…”
Sydney Sweeney is a rising star following several high-profile roles in TV shows like The Handmaid’s Tale, Euphoria and White Lotus. While her big screen appearances have been mostly limited to trashy but enjoyable fare, this acclaimed HBO production perhaps marks the first moment in which Sweeney confirms that she can carry a serious feature-length film as the main lead…
The spectacularly named Reality Winner (Sweeney) became notorious in 2017 for leaking classified NSA documents that related to Russian military attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Reality uses the real FBI transcripts from the day of her arrest to create a chilling tableau of how it feels to watch your life fall apart in front of your eyes. The cast is rounded out by the unnervingly friendly FBI agents Taylor (Marchant Davis) and Garrick (Josh Hamilton).
One of the most striking things about Reality is the small details. What happens to your pets when you are suddenly arrested for treason? How do the FBI subtly prod and poke their way to the truth? Watching this all unfold in something like real-time is panic-inducing and thought-provoking. For many, false imprisonment is one of the worst things that could possibly happen to a person – I find this prospect particularly terrifying – and writer-director Tina Satter does a great job of portraying just how frightening this experience must be.
Intercut with real-life news footage and boasting a superb performance from Sweeney, Reality zips by at 83 minutes and delivers an unbiased account of one aspect of an insane moment in US politics.