We're gonna look back and say this is what turned Sweeney into a major talent

“Reality” is a real winner for Sydney Sweeny, the “Euphoria” star who gets to show some real acting talent in this stripped down retelling of an event that occurred in 2017 regarding one, Reality Winner.

Playwright Tina Satter used dialogue entirely from an FBI transcript to craft her play, which she here turns into a movie having to do with leaked documents of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. The film takes place all in one location and revolves around just three characters. That might sound like rough treading for some, but this brisk 80 minute film is full-on suspense.


Sweeney plays Winner, who was confronted with a search warrant by FBI agents Garrick and Taylor outside of her Georgia home. They say that this ex-Air Force member turned NSA translator mishandled classified information- a violation of the espionage act. What Satter sets up here is an interrogation that has just as much to do with the subtleties of behavior and body language as it does with dialogue. Reality and the agents, played by Josh Hamilton and Merchant Davis, begin relatively cordially- both are accommodating to the other and their small talk almost seems like a hang than an investigation. But the whole time we’re wondering how much does she know, was she expecting this, and not if they will penetrate her charming defenses, but when?

Satter ups the claustrophobia of the situation as the film progresses- covering dead space with audio files or with excerpts from transcripts typed out, or creating a dead space in certain moments where the transcript was redacted. It comes across as a very authentic interpretation of how the interrogation was processed- only later does she give us a full picture.

However, the best part is Sweeney, presenting at first as a stoic servicewoman who we gradually come to see as a frightened girl trying to summon up the courage to defend her ideals. With her big, expressive eyes and nervous vulnerability- she’s not just fighting the FBI but also trying to hold it together amidst terribly large circumstances. Of course there is a great ethical question here which is why are leakers of major crimes always punished harder than those responsible for major crimes? The unfairness of it is at the heart of “Reality”, where this woman stood up for the ideals of democracy, only for it to turn its back on her.

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