“Unbelievable and Disturbing”: A true story beyond reality, a thriller not to be missed this summer!

What is it about? On June 3, 2017, the twenty-five-year-old reality TV winner was questioned by two FBI agents at her home. This banal and sometimes surreal conversation, with each dialogue taken from an authentic interrogation transcript, paints a complex portrait of the American millennial, US Air Force veteran, yoga teacher, and animal lover. Travel and share photos on social networks. . Why is the FBI interested in him? Who really is reality?

A true story and a play

Reality is Tina Sater’s first feature film, and she has several performances. The thriller, inspired by the true story of a reality TV winner, ex-whistleblower and former NSA (National Security Agency) subcontractor, is also an adaptation of a play that the filmmaker staged on Broadway. This is the roomin 2021. We also find the same grunts, coughs, discomfort in moments of exchange and censorship, as in the moments discovered by Tina Sater in 2017:

“As soon as I read this document, I told myself that there was material for a film. On the one hand, this is an administrative document of the FBI, but on the other hand, it emanates an amazing power. Tells the story of reality and evokes the moment that turned his life upside down. It’s a fascinating document because it reveals, literally, the way in which the people involved in this case try to communicate. They said that the film would be stronger. If we were trying to reconstruct the reality of what happened”The director confides.

What happened to Reality Winner?

After being questioned and detained by the FBI, Reality Winner was arrested in June 2017. The following year, he was sentenced to five years in prison. “Obtaining secret documents from a government institution and handing them over to an information organization” (The Intercept), became the first person to be convicted under the Espionage Act in the Trump era. Reality was finally released in June 2021 for good behavior after spending more than four years behind bars.

Who is up for the title role?

Sydney Sweeney, seen in the hit series White Lotus, Euphoria, and The Handmaid’s Tale, plays Reality’s winner, this young woman who constantly defends her during her harsh interrogation. The actor explains: “In my eyes, Reality Winner is the emblem of American youth in 2017 and manifests as the sum of contradictions, both physically and in his actions.”. The director continues:

“Emotionally, Sydney felt like she understood reality – and I really felt like she understood her, really. She was completely invested in the character. Her quirkiness, her fun, and her very dark side. Reality is infused with all kinds of interesting contradictions that challenge prejudices. We may have a bias toward female identity, ex-military members, and millennials.”

To prepare for the role, Sidney Sweeney recorded notes, studied Reality Winner’s intonations, and spoke to her via Zoom and text.

Josh Hamilton is Agent Garrick

Josh Hamilton, who plays Agent Garrick in the interrogation, saw Tina Sutter’s performance when he was offered the role. He prepared himself by studying the interrogation videos, trying to remember the slightest grunt, the slightest cough, and the slightest hesitation in the original text. The actor recalls:

“You don’t often work with that kind of language. Sometimes it’s the kind of diabolical nonsense that no screenwriter could come up with. And these seemingly innocuous asides were actually excellent interrogation techniques designed to manipulate the interrogated person. “

In theaters August 16: The Jungle Bunch 2, Reality, The Beast In The Jungle…

ideological goal

Tina Sater stayed in touch with the reality TV winner’s loved ones while writing the play and the film. Since the former whistleblower was released from prison in 2021, he and the director have been communicating regularly via Zoom: “Reality, her mother Billie Winner-Davis and her sister Brittany Winner have always encouraged me in my artistic approach from the beginning. I owe them so much.”

“As the intelligence and humor of reality emerge from the moments – as well as its deeply human flaws – my desire to stay true to this portrayal of reality touched and delighted them. On a Saturday afternoon in 2017 America, we walk into an apartment room. I. I want the audience to experience this story because it’s exciting to see how government works.”