Reality Winner was hugely popular among liberals/progressives and it felt like she was some sort of hero for them for a while. It seems like people think leaks are either Pentagon Papers or Robert Hanssen. Either a pure hero or pure evil mastermind. As FBI said in the movie, the leaks give other nations info on how FBI finds out about their hacking and spy work so it makes Russia and China adapt easier. So even when the leaks are "good" they may be harmful.
This movie is about Reality Winner downloading a secret document on how Russia tried to hack the US election machines. As they also say in the movie she hated USA and thought it was the worst thing to happen to the planet. She was angry about Fox News and how they spun the Russia-Trump connection - even though the movie never makes clear what she was angry about. The movie is seemingly based on the real events that happened between her and 2 FBI agents on the day of her arrest. So it's just a slow interview where much of the movie is about her cat and dog and them talking about her life. It's all quite silly. I did enjoy how the FBI agents were actually realistic here. Usually in these movies the cops and agents are evil bullies trying to ruin the live of the leaker. Here they were nice guys and the actress plus the older FBI agent were good here. Though she was awfully bored and boring. Which is the main issue. The concept and idea is curious enough. We follow an arrest step by step slowly with 50% of it being small talk about pets or fitness. It makes it feel different and stand out. But it gives us very little to no info on the case. And because all scenes are the same the movie is waaaaay too long. I would say about 50 min would be right for it as it's only a few hours of a single day and just dialogue. If they wanted a full movie they should have set it over 3 days. Leak, arrest, post prison. Something like that. She only spent 4 years in prison as leaks are not taken that serious in USA. In Russia for example she would have stayed in prison for life for stuff like this. And likely much worse. So there are some curious topics that could have been explored here like why USA doesn't imprison leakers for life or what they do post prison. A book deal could go for millions in such a case so leaking, going to prison for 4 years, then making millions in a year could be a nice gig and make for a better story. And the leak itself could also be interesting to follow. How did Trump, Hillary, and Russia respond to it? What do progressives think about her? What do conservatives think about her? She doesn't look evil. Just a young blonde woman who doesn't seem wise or clever and kinda messed up by not understanding what she was doing. All of these questions are here. They are a perfect setting for a really great movie with many themes. Instead we get ... this ... just a very lazy movie. It all feels fine enough. But after 40-50 min when you understand the concept fully you start to feel awfully bored.
This movie is about Reality Winner downloading a secret document on how Russia tried to hack the US election machines. As they also say in the movie she hated USA and thought it was the worst thing to happen to the planet. She was angry about Fox News and how they spun the Russia-Trump connection - even though the movie never makes clear what she was angry about. The movie is seemingly based on the real events that happened between her and 2 FBI agents on the day of her arrest. So it's just a slow interview where much of the movie is about her cat and dog and them talking about her life. It's all quite silly. I did enjoy how the FBI agents were actually realistic here. Usually in these movies the cops and agents are evil bullies trying to ruin the live of the leaker. Here they were nice guys and the actress plus the older FBI agent were good here. Though she was awfully bored and boring. Which is the main issue. The concept and idea is curious enough. We follow an arrest step by step slowly with 50% of it being small talk about pets or fitness. It makes it feel different and stand out. But it gives us very little to no info on the case. And because all scenes are the same the movie is waaaaay too long. I would say about 50 min would be right for it as it's only a few hours of a single day and just dialogue. If they wanted a full movie they should have set it over 3 days. Leak, arrest, post prison. Something like that. She only spent 4 years in prison as leaks are not taken that serious in USA. In Russia for example she would have stayed in prison for life for stuff like this. And likely much worse. So there are some curious topics that could have been explored here like why USA doesn't imprison leakers for life or what they do post prison. A book deal could go for millions in such a case so leaking, going to prison for 4 years, then making millions in a year could be a nice gig and make for a better story. And the leak itself could also be interesting to follow. How did Trump, Hillary, and Russia respond to it? What do progressives think about her? What do conservatives think about her? She doesn't look evil. Just a young blonde woman who doesn't seem wise or clever and kinda messed up by not understanding what she was doing. All of these questions are here. They are a perfect setting for a really great movie with many themes. Instead we get ... this ... just a very lazy movie. It all feels fine enough. But after 40-50 min when you understand the concept fully you start to feel awfully bored.