Reality (2023)

Reality (2023)

The truth has its price!

The beginning of the film raises many questions about the two agents’ visit to this woman’s home. This film captivated me from the start.

On 3 June 2017, Reality Winner, aged 25, is questioned by two FBI agents at her home. This seemingly mundane, sometimes surreal conversation, with every line of dialogue taken from the authentic transcript of the interrogation, paints a complex portrait of an American millennial, a US Air Force veteran, yoga teacher, who loves animals, travelling and sharing photos on social media. Why is the FBI interested in her? Who is Reality really?

Her name is Reality Winner. Are you serious? Yes, very! And the inspiring story of this former employee of an NSA (National Security Agency) partner company has already been the subject of a play, created by Tina Satter, who naturally directed the film inspired by it. What makes it unique? Its dialogue is based on the authentic transcript of Reality’s interrogation by two FBI agents in 2017.

Apart from a few short flashbacks, the feature film focuses solely on the three-way ‘discussion’, which is obviously an interrogation. The reasons for this intervention gradually become clear after a rather surreal start to the conversation (but apparently true!). Absolutely! Friendly exchanges with attentive agents, but on their guard, who beat around the bush before getting more specific.

For the most part, the exchanges are limited to small talk, which is somewhat surprising, especially given the very relaxed tone between the two parties. They talk about her animals and her background: a way of breaking the ice before getting down to business, because they already know everything and just want to know why!

Everything happens naturally, and as the noose tightens around her, we feel the tension gradually increasing. The tone is never raised, there are no threats, and that’s what makes this interrogation so captivating.

That said, there is no point in waiting for the film to dwell on the case in which Reality appears to be involved, despite its enormous scale and symbolic significance in terms of the dysfunctionality of American democracy, or indeed on its aftermath, which is simply outlined in the closing credits. No, what interests Tina Satter is, on the one hand, the FBI agents’ method of grilling a young woman in her own home, using a mixture of false empathy and psychological pressure, and, on the other hand, the portrait of Reality Winner, a point on which the film is by no means convincing.

While the staging is effective enough to build tension and unease, it remains rather dull overall, unable to escape the trap of filmed theatre. Fortunately, the sensitive performance of the fabulous Sydney Sweeney gives some depth to a film that is stuck in its own device. The greatness of Reality lies as much in its meticulous staging as in the young actress’s masterful performance.

The film is interesting for the way the interrogation unfolds. But the underlying subject matter is not a big surprise, probably because when the news came out, it didn’t seem to surprise many people…

I went to see the most negative reviews and, as usual, they made me laugh! Absurdities such as:

— A very American and partisan docu-fiction television film.
— There were only three of us in the theatre and about twenty in the entire cinema, but with films like this, it’s not surprising.
— I’m worried about the future of cinema…
— In France, there are news stories ten times worse!

Here’s a slightly more thoughtful one: ‘Unfortunately, it quickly turns to mush when the interrogation revolves around so-called top-secret documents smuggled out by the lady, no doubt the weekly menu for the canteen. How boring!’

And I also appreciated the ‘I’m going to watch it a second time to try to understand.’ That’s rather mature!

There’s something else I really like about this film: when secret information is about to be revealed, the main character disappears from the screen, as if she had been censored. Then she reappears and the conversation continues. It’s quite subtly done.

Adapted from the play ‘Is This A Room’, whose dialogue is taken directly from real transcripts, ‘Reality’ tells the story of the arrest of whistleblower Reality Winner. Once again, the fact that it is based on FBI recordings makes this reproduction authentic, immersive and fascinating. In short, a good film with excellent actors.