Citizenfour (2014)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Part real-life thriller, part sobering examination of 21st century civil liberties, Citizenfour transcends ideology to offer riveting, must-see cinema.
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Critic Reviews for Citizenfour
All Critics (138) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (133) | Rotten (5)
Poitras' movie works even better as a horror picture -- perfect for Halloween week.
This thoughtful film is designed with taste.
The message of the movie is as clear as Siberian ice: Whether you're a Tea Partier, an Occupier or just an ordinary Joe, you might be the next citizen who's stranded in limbo.
Filmmaker Laura Poitras paints a frankly terrifying picture of the loss of liberty involved in the widespread government gathering of the communication done by ordinary Joes on a daily basis.
Citizenfour argues that when we lose our personal privacy, we also lose our liberty, because fear overcomes our freedom of speech.
Citizenfour plays like a thriller as it chronicles a complex and vitally important chapter in our history.
Audience Reviews for Citizenfour
This alarming and terrifying exposé is both a tense real-life espionage thriller that came at the right moment when the events were still fresh in people's minds and a fascinating character study about a brave man who put his life at risk to reveal what he knew to the world.
Super Reviewer
John Oliver recently interviewed Edward Snowden, in Russia, for a segment on his HBO show "Last Week Tonight." In short the interview simplifyed information surrounding the intelligence agencies' reach into our private lives, the data that Snowden leaked when he became a whistleblower, and how it affects our daily lives. The interview was spawned from an intelligent, beyond tense, and well directed documentary that recently won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, named "Citizenfour." Read more at http://www.bluefairyblog.com/reviews/2015/5/23/citizenfour
Super Reviewer
An arresting, extremely fascinating look documenting the divulging of sensitive government information by whistleblower Edward Snowden, and how he and the United States reacted once it became public. You do not have to agree with the politics of the situation to still be utterly hooked by what is put on the screen. It is no secret that the government spies on its citizens and has way to much access to what we do in our own time. Whether you agree with Snowden's decision or not, this is still a very well-done movie with the intent to inform the public that invasion of privacy is a very real thing that is only getting worse over time.
Super Reviewer
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