IN MOST THRILLERS it is easy to distinguish between the virtuous and the villainous. Towards the political end of the genre, however, the line becomes blurred. Tales of anti-government whistleblowers, which hinge on keystrokes rather than killings, epitomise this tension. Someone who breaks the law in service of a broader justice makes for a complicated protagonist. In a drama that creates a compelling character, such as the rogue cop of “Luther”, the BBC’s detective thriller. But in stories based on real life, portraying the person behind intelligence leaks as evidently good or bad—and therefore one viewers can get behind or not—means taking a political stance.
The latest of this subgenre, “Reality”, which is now available on Max (the streaming platform formerly known as HBO Max), skilfully avoids doing so. The film (pictured) masterfully adapts the transcript from the FBI’s interrogation of Reality Winner, a 25-year-old intelligence linguist who in 2017 stuffed a top-secret document down her tights before leaving the National Security Agency (NSA) contractor’s office in Georgia where she was employed. The report detailed Russia’s efforts to interfere in the presidential election of 2016, when Americans voted Donald Trump into office.
In the film, Ms Winner comes off as both sophisticated and childish. She is an air-force veteran who speaks three languages and owns three guns (one of which...
The Dangote Group has dismissed as false and malicious claims of a rift between its President, Aliko Dangote, and the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, and also rejected allegations that h...