The story of Reality Winner is a fascinating one. Well, enough to become Hollywood's latest biopic muse. Winner has had her life told on screen three times in under four years – a feature-length documentary, the Sydney Sweeney-led drama Reality, and now, the duo behind indie gem Cat Person, Emilia Jones and Susanna Fogel, are taking a crack with comedy-drama Winner.
This is the story of Reality Winner (yes that's her real name), a brilliant young misfit from Texas who finds her morals challenged while serving in the US Air Force and working as an NSA contractor. This is not your traditional whistleblower drama, it is a fresh, comedic, heartfelt, coming-of-age story that follows an idealistic young woman persecuted for standing by her principles. After exposing Russia's hacking of the 2016 US presidential election, Reality made international headlines when she was sentenced to five and a half years in prison – the longest sentence ever given to someone charged under the Espionage Act for leaking a government document.
Often, when something timely and relevant rears its head in society, the film industry is quick to cash in on it. There are biopics for everything, from famous historical figures all the way to the inventor of the Miracle Mop. Usually, biopics trail decades following on from their subject, but Reality Winner's story is still extremely fresh and very much hot off of the press. So why has Reality Winner already received so much attention, and what exactly justifies the existence of this version of the story, when the Sydney Sweeney-led film has already been there, done that?
This film provides a better 360-degree view of Reality Winner before she became a whistle-blower. We delve into what makes her tick and why she is the person she ends up becoming. This all helps to give greater context as to why she leaked government secrets. Adding her home life and her up-and-down relationship with her parents and sister makes her far more relatable. Emilia Jones' gripping lead performance brilliantly portrays this, conveying the many layers to Winner's personality while also highlighting her main attribute—her conscience.
Fogel's film delves far deeper into the family dynamic and makes Reality Winner seem like a real person and not just this figurehead that's been portrayed on the news. It's all conveyed in an overly zany American indie kind of way, but it somehow works. After all, this is a story about a regular American girl who essentially just wanted to tell the truth.
Winner makes a strong case for why it should exist alongside the other adaptations of Reality Winners life. It's a heartfelt and relatable tale of a young woman battling with wanting to be a better person and at constant war with her conscience. This is by far Emilia Jones' best work since CODA, and Susanna Fogel is emerging as a formidable talent behind the camera.
Winner is now available on Digital Platforms
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