Reality

Not too sure why this was made into a movie, not much there in terms of a story. No plot twists, just Sydney Sweeney sweating throughout the movie. Ballsy little Democrat, hence the extra half star.

This was a great movie. With the actual transcript overlaid, it gave a real sense of being there in the moment and watching someone unravel under pressure from a major agency like the FBI. Non-right wingers will have wanted Reality to win in the end, but we all knew that was not going to be the case. I am surprised that the NSA did not have the technology in 2016 to limit who had access to or what would be sent to a printer. That just shows the organisation was too bureaucratic for its own good.

I was so excited for the trailer to watch this movie. I’m not a Sydney Sweeney fan but I was excited to see her in a drama and especially really excited to hear this was a true story. Not sure how I missed it when it actually happened. What did I learn watching this movie? FBI transcripts make horrible movies scripts. In fact, I didn’t even finish the movie. It was way too awkward and slow. Instead I went to YouTube and watched a 60 Minutes segment/interview about reality winner and this whole incident. If you want the story in a much more consumable and informative format here is the link to the 60 Min interview… https://youtu.be/NcR5hlnN31I?si=C82PomNGxPEMEIix

Intense interplay between Sydney Sweeney (as Reality Winner) and Josh Hamilton and Marchánt Davis (as the two FBI agents). Tina Satter did an excellent directing job.

Very well performed piece on the FBI interrogation of Reality Leigh Winner based on recorded log. Film could have used a tiny boost of color, outside the log, into Reality pre- or post- interrogation and imprisonment. The sentence seems very harsh but if it was not, or even if was, some added flavor would have shaped this film into a 4 or 4+ star movie.

Terrible! What a waste of my time. This should have been a news article at best. If a movie plot would have told us anything, it could have been interesting. FBI officer was awkward and very dry as the verbatim was boring and had no interest at all. The repetition and repeating that is was a voluntary search and interview made it seem like the detainment was not real, yet she wasn't allowed to go inside or care for her pets. Don't bother watching. The last footnotes before the credits say it all-leaked documents and consequences.

Boring. Bad acting. Pointless

Sydney Sweeney delivers a powerful, mature performance in "Reality," a film based on the true story of NSA whistleblower Reality Winner. Sweeney's portrayal is undeniably captivating, and the film's reliance on dialogue creates a unique and initially engaging atmosphere. However, while Sydney Sweeney's acting elevates the material, the film itself struggles to maintain its initial momentum. The heavy focus on a single, extended conversation creates a sense of stagnancy. The story, while important, doesn't translate into the consistently thrilling experience one might hope for. Overall, "Reality" is worth watching for Sydney Sweeney's impressive work alone. Those interested in the subject matter may find it fascinating, but for viewers primarily seeking edge-of-your-seat tension, this film might leave something to be desired.

Watched Tina Satter's feature film debut last night, a gripping intimate drama that basically only depicts the arrest of whistleblower Reality Winner in 2017 in real time. A minimalist work without a script. Only the unaltered original dialogue from the FBI audio recording was used. An ingenious cinematic solution was found for the blacked-out passages in the original FBI transcript. The extremely slow penetration of privacy and the emotional dissection of reality in slow-mo are almost painful to watch.

A tricky one to review in some ways, as it is a claustrophobic-feeling, singularly-focussed story built solely around the recorded conversation between Reality and the FBI Agents. It is supposed to be tense stuff, but that never really comes across. The energy and direction just feel lacking in the delivery. SS is compelling, but there just isn't much going on outside of her character, so any empathy you may feel dissipates pretty quickly. By the end, you just feel like you've watched an interview without feeling any of the significance to the event