Reality

A very entertaining and well done movie. Easily a nine.

Syd Sweeney does an incredible job as Reality. She can really act. Whether it's White Lotus or Euphoria or Reality she brings believability to her roles. It is very refreshing to see actresses get good roles and opportunities the play complex characters.

The movie is very well done; it uses the actual tapes of her interview by the FBI. There are only 3 main characters in the movie and it is the interaction between them that gives the movie its good pace. I was surprised it was about an hour long because you are completely caught up in the story you don't realize how much time has passed.

The direction was also very good. Pay attention to positions everyone has when she is being interviewed.

This movie is an almost verbatim re-enactment of an FBI transcript.

These reviews seem to fall into two camps. People who accept moral ambiguity and those who want a clear cinematic delineation between good and evil.. Reality (her real name) is neither a crusading whistleblower nor a traitor, but a woman who'd serve honorably in the U. S. Air Force and becomes increasingly tormented by conscience,. The FBI agents are neither shining knights or cruel thugs but highly trained actors playing FBI agents (well -trained actors themselves) trying to tease out the truth.

In any case, all the characters are real human beings, not movie heros or villains.

The tension IS a slow build, but relentless.

People who want a slam bang action film with clearly obvious good guys versus bad guys, whether Reality OR FBI agents, and virtue triumphing over evil, are going to be sorely disappointed (as shown by the reviews) .

People who want a binary film experience should avoid this brilliant film at all costs.

Those fascinated by the fuzziness of profound moral dilemmas should rush out to see this film as soon as possible.

This movie only having a 6.6 average rating feels criminally low to me. This is how I wish more movies based on real events took place. Using the actual transcript, so there's no room for dramatization or fluff. The acting is fantastic, and at under 90 minutes I felt more tension with this movie than most Hollywood action blockbusters. I fear it will be overlooked, but it's a must watch that requires almost no time investment. If not exactly, it's pretty much shown in real time as the actual interrogation took place. I would love any recommendations in the replies of other films based on true events that use factual evidence of what was said and took place in its making.

Having access to secret things that should be known, presenting opportunities, when you're alone, to print out, stuff down your clothes, specifically, your pantyhose, then send it off to those, who get your cover blown; it all leads to a tense visit from the boys, who at school must have resented those with toys, as all they love is the pursuit, of those they want to prosecute, probing, intimidate, is how they get their joys; so the service you've performed to wake, enlighten, ends up with a noose that's subtly gets tightened, then your cast into a cell, it's quite a long time (by some distance) that you dwell, but those with a sense of right, will surely fight on.

Sydney Sweeny is outstanding, absolutely brilliant, as the persecuted Reality Winner who did the right thing.

Reality: The story of Reality Leigh Winner, an NSA contacter who leaked information proving that Russian Intelligence had interfered in the 2016 US Presidential Election. Frustrated by seeing the reality being denied on Fox TV her tipping point was when Trump sacked FBI Director Comey. Ironically this led to her arrest by the FBI and prosecution. In spite of findings by a Senate Committee that her leak was in the public interest, Reality was sentenced to six years in prison. The film is based on the FBI interrogation transcript which was recorded on the day of her arrest, interspersed with posts from her Instagram account and TV news footage. Reality is played by Sydney Sweeney. The transcript comes to life as Reality is confronted by FBI agents, the first two playing good cops, who tell they realise that she just made a mistake, show concern for her animals, chat about cross training. A Master Class in how to get a confession when you haven't advised a suspect of their rights, just having a chat. There are some comic scenes, a cat being under the bed where Reality keeps a gun, another cat observing developments whilst seated in a child's pedal car across the street. But the tension builds as the agents get Reality to talk, I knew the outcome but the narrative still unfolds like a thriller. Well worth watching. Directed by Tina Satter, from a screenplay by Satter and James Paul Dallas. It is based on the play which Satter previously staged as Is This a Room. 8/10.