Reality

Reality is a 2023 American crime drama film directed by Tina Satter from a screenplay by Satter and James Paul Dallas. It is based on the FBI interrogation transcript of American intelligence leaker Reality Winner, which Satter previously staged as the play Is This a Room. It stars Sydney Sweeney as Winner, with Josh Hamilton and Marchánt Davis in supporting roles. Reality premiered at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 18, 2023, and was released on May 29, 2023, by HBO Films. It has received critical acclaim, with praise for Satter's direction and Sweeney's performance. Plot On May 9, 2017, Reality Winner watches Fox News coverage on the firing of James Comey by President Donald Trump on the TV at her office. 25 days later, on June 3, Winner returns home from grocery shopping, where she is confronted by FBI agents Taylor and Garrick, who explain they have a warrant to search her house and her belongings. As a team of agents arrive and begin searching the house, Winner engages in casual conversation with the agents, all of which is picked up by recording device, the transcript of which forms the basis of the film's dialogue. During the early portion of the recording, Winner expresses concern for her dog's and cat's safety during the search. Winner agrees to speak with Taylor and Garrick in an empty, disused bedroom in her house. Garrick and Taylor start to ask her about the specifics of her work. She explains, besides working as a yoga instructor and CrossFit trainer, she is a Farsi translator for a government contractor and is hoping to be deployed to Afghanistan as a translator so her fluency in Pashto can be better utilized. The agents eventually reveal they are questioning Winner about the recent leak of classified government documents to an online publication. Winner initially denies knowledge, but over the course of an hour is eventually compelled to confess she printed and leaked a document from the National Security Agency's database. The film initially redacts specifics of the leak, as is done in the transcript, but it is eventually revealed that the documents revealed proof of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and the publication was The Intercept, which had put out a call for evidence of Russian interference.