- Rating: A-
- Do I recommend: 100%
Plot (Non-Spoiling)
This American political drama focuses on a Senate staffer, Daniel Jones (played by Adam Driver), who is tasked by Senator Dianne Feinstein (played by Annette Bening) to investigate the CIA’s Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT’s). EIT was a fancy term which gave the CIA permission to use various torture methods on its prisoners from the War on Terror. These methods were used at CIA black sites across the globe. Jones and his team must read through millions of the CIA’s own documents to determine whether the EIT programs were successful or not in gaining crucial intelligence, preventing future attacks, and saving lives. His investigation receives intense scrutiny from the CIA and the politicians who back them, so much so that they intend to bury Jones’s findings the first chance they get.
Diversity
Almost all the characters in this film were real people, so the majority white main cast serves more as a mirror to the lack of diversity within the federal government’s legislative and executive branches when Jones was building his case. The main cast along with the director, writers, and producers were 99% white, so there is almost no diversity behind or in the scenes. They were also 62% male, but the film had many strong female characters. The most notable would be Feinstein because she was the most crucial factor in the investigation’s ability to dodge sabatoge attempts.
Review
This film showcased the facts of Jones’s report excellently as the director, Scott Burns, worked closely with Jones throughout the making of the film. An important characteristic of the plot is that members of both parties (and the Bush and Obama administrations) received deserved scrutiny for actively helping the CIA cover up its violations. Therefore, this film is less agenda-based than many other political films. I encourage people on both sides of the political spectrum to watch this. The only error in this film is the beginning. It jumps from year to year too quickly and gives an initial impression that the film will be impossible to follow. Luckily, it gets easier to understand, but attention is key in realizing the importance of “The Torture Report”. The U.S. government’s willingness to investigate itself is honorable, but it also tries to sabotage these same investigations. What a country.
