Claire McCormick

The great Sarah Peirse from Heavenly Creatures and Rain is indelible as always!

This film will give you access to some great thoughtful interviews and watching some of the actual material Wikileaks released is compelling. But it feels like the directors extended cut and needs some judicious editing and shaping into a more coherent story. The opening timeline is clunky, and the ending feels very “influenced” by the kind of “inspirational” messages social media is full of, and is ladled on in a way that buries the material. There are some strange things left out like Obama’s release of whistleblower Manning, and the material released which impacted on the Clinton campaign and helped Trump take the presidency. It’s repetitive on some things and touches too lightly or indeed has glaring omissions in other areas. Having said that it remains a must see and I understand the desperation the filmmakers feel to advocate for Assange’s release to his family and to hold to account those who have been complicit in misusing state power to silence all those journalists like Julian and Daphne who seek to hold them to account.