Written by: Tina Satter & James Paul Dallas
Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Josh Hamilton, Marchánt Davis
Rating: [2.5/5]
Finding inventive ways of telling stories sits at the forefront of what filmmakers want to accomplish to add something new to the viewing experience for others. These efforts deserve respect for the effort, but that does not necessarily mean it will successfully pull off the impact it sought as seen in Reality. Certainly inventive in approach, but it makes for an experience that does not necessarily make for an engaging movie.
Arriving home after grocery shopping, Reality Winner (Sydney Sweeney) finds two FBI agents await her saying they have a search warrant for her home. Initially playing coy as to why they are at her home, the agents begin to question her on her job and how they suspect her as someone who has leaked confidential information about the 2016 election, which has put her in some serious hot water.
Whistleblower stories typically contain a sense of paranoia and fear because it quickly becomes about one person against an entire system hellbent on keeping distinct information away from the eyes of the public. Stepping out of line, as done in this film, has the whole system crash down on the individual, which naturally brings the tension of the story at hand. Reality, however, takes the intriguing approach of displaying this interrogation of Reality and essentially using the transcript of the real conversation as the screenplay for this story. At different moments we hear the actual recorded conversation of this real-life incident as the FBI interrogates this woman and then have these actors play it out for the sake of the film.
Undoubtedly a bold choice by the team behind this film and one where I can certainly appreciate the effort made in trying to craft something incredibly unique and while the acting on display makes some of it work, the film strangely restricts itself through this method. There’s a reason many stories about real-world events use those classic disclaimers beforehand of “inspired by true events” or “based on true events.” It gives the writers some leeway in allowing for some embellishment to make them entertaining. We certainly do not want the truth of the matter changed, but having writers dress it up in a manner that captivates serves as the whole reason to watch a film. By electing to use the interrogation verbatim, it displays the honest truth of natural human conversation does not make for the most captivating viewing experience. Sure, Reality carries quite a bit of tension through the general scope of the story, but painstakingly using the real conversations only further proves that Hollywood writers are invaluable for what they provide through their screenplays. If I wanted to experience this verbatim conversation, it would better befit a documentary about this situation, but it does not work for a feature film.
Even with my general problem with this movie, it certainly does not take away from the performance Sydney Sweeney puts in as the titular character. She steps in with quite the task of making the delivery of this conversation more dramatic than it actually was during the real interrogation. Sweeney must tease out the drama of the situation and display the internalized terror finding its way out to the surface for this woman. This particular role certainly serves as a great exercise for her in presenting a unique challenge of taking on this type of character through its circumstances, where it shows she can shine in dramatic roles. Whether or not she can shine as a lead of a romantic comedy begs a different question, but she makes the most of what this role asks of her, and she does decently well.
While not a fan of the overall approach to Reality, I will always appreciate when big swings are taken in finding various ways to tell a particular story. What we see in this film definitely has the material for an entertaining story about this young woman getting so disillusioned by the circumstances of her job and the political toxicity that exists within it. However, the film decides to restrict itself heavily to a transcript, which did not allow it to blossom and get into delving into this character more that could have involved a bit more embellishment but would have certainly delivered in making for a better viewing experience overall.
Films with Josh 
