Director Tina Satter’s account of the interrogation of agent Reality Winner is perhaps one of the more tense thrillers of the year. It’s filled with so much suspense and tension from the moment Reality Winner pulls up to her drive way. Although the movie is simplistic and relies on a very small cast, Tina Satter is able to evoke a ton of really edge of the seat interplay between the characters. Based on the play “Is This a Room,” the dialogue is based almost completely on the transcripts between the federal agents and Reality Winner, and the respective cast is remarkable.
Sydney Sweeney plays Reality Winner, a former United States Air Force member, and linguist contractor with the NSA who became an eventual whistleblower for Russian interference in the 2016 elections. She was arrested on June 3rd, 2017, for printing out the classified information, and sending it to the news outlet The Intercept. Winner is confronted by agents outside of her home in Augusta, Georgia, where she’s subjected to a rigorous questioning process first on her front lawn outside her house, which then moved in to an unfurnished, cold, abandoned back area of her house.
The casting of Sydney Sweeney as Reality Winner is a masterstroke as Sweeney is able to convey a lot through her nuanced facial expressions. Her ability to convey so much through her eyes is one of her key talents, as she’s displayed on her role in HBO’s “Euphoria.” In one moment the agents ask why Reality seemed irritated when she saw them in her driveway as she explains it’s merely her “Resting Bitch Face.” This pairs well with Sweeney is very particular beauty is accentuated by her eyes. Here she’s able to really flex her keen abilities as a performer, playing Reality Winner as someone with intentions that never quite mix with her superiors’.
She finds that out the hard way once we’re made very aware of the storm that is aroused by her actions on June of 2017. The cast of Josh Hamilton, Marchant Davis, and Benny Elledge are very good as the respective agents. From the second we meet them they build this façade of sincerity with small talk all of which is contradicted by the rustling of Reality’s personal belongings in her house as they rummage through her personal belongings. Meanwhile, Reality is given the illusion of freedom but every time she indicates movement, the agents are quick to question her intention. They’re desperate to pounce on her, and Reality is helpless for the majority of her confrontation with the agents. Reality’s face is foreshadowed with her dog, as she’s forced to cage it up as the agents invade her home looking for incriminating evidence.
As her dog’s freedom is stripped away, she can almost immediately sense that soon her own free is going to be taken away. There isn’t a ton of room for exposition as director Satter sticks to the transcripts of the interrogation for Reality Winner, but there’s the thick sense of distrust and manipulation lingering with every seemingly ordinary question about Reality’s obese house cat, and her passion for Crossfit. “Reality” is sure to be a provocative drama thriller, one that will surely leave audiences with a bad taste in their mouths. It’s a small scale albeit very important political thriller carried by star Sweeney, who handles the role with raw skill.
Now airing on HBO, and streaming Exclusively on Max.