Worth: $18.50
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Cast:
Sydney Sweeney, Marchánt Davis, Josh Hamilton
Intro:
… a simple story, but crafted as a very effective piece of cinema that is well worth catching.
In the post truth politics of the US ushered in by Trump, the word reality has, sadly, acquired an ironic meaning. As it happens, Reality is also the first name of the lead character of this pointed piece of drama.
Reality was originally a play and has been adapted here for the screen by the playwright/director Tina Satter. Sometimes, this can produce a literal staginess, but through the skill of the transition here, it loses none of its power and simplicity.
It also offers a great role for the previously under-stretched Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, The White Lotus), who plays the eponymous Reality without a skerrick of makeup and a dead pan innocence and intensity that is quietly riveting.
Reality has under-utilised skills. She can speak Pashto and Farsi, which should make her an asset for the US military when she enlists. She is a patriot, keen to serve in Afghanistan or the Middle East. But she ends up with a mundane desk job.
Most of the time, Reality just goes home to her little suburban house where she lives with her cat and dog. When she starts to see intel about the blatant but officially denied Russian interference in the election process, she is troubled. The constant misinformation and cover-up by her own side, leads her to take an uncharacteristic risk. Like Bradley Manning before her, she finds it easy enough to copy a secret document and take it home. However, that’s when the authorities cotton on and two mild-mannered, but persistent FBI agents turn up at her house.
The rest of this tight eighty-minuter plays out like a thriller, but it is a psychological vice that is closing in on the protagonist rather than anything dramatic or violent. The acting is deceptively casual and naturalistic, and it adds to the tension. This is a simple story, but crafted as a very effective piece of cinema that is well worth catching.
