Laura Poitras had a huge critical hit with the documentary Citizenfour (2014) that followed NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and his escape from the U.S.. Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange were natural parts of that film, and this time Poitras gets really close to him. Following the period when Assange was accused of rape in Sweden, which led him to take refuge in the embassy of Ecuador in London, Poitras’s project was troubled by her increasingly negative feelings for Assange, which forced her to change approach, as well as a relationship that she began with another Wikileaks character, Jacob Applebaum. This film is too messy and unfocused, although it does put Assange’s arrogance and misogyny on full display.

2017-U.S. 86 min. Color. Written and directed by Laura Poitras.

IMDb