LONDON, July 2010. In the offices of The Guardian, editor Alan Rusbridger (Peter Capaldi), Deputy Ian Katz (Dan Stevens) and reporter Nick Davies (David Thewlis) are poised to publish their front page story about the Bradley Manning leaks.
The film rewinds two years to sketch the relationship between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and computer wizard Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Bruhl), who meet at a conference and embark on their quest to expose corruption within the upper echelons of power.
Based in part on Daniel Domscheit- Berg’s unflattering book Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange At The World’s Most Dangerous Website, The Fifth Estate repeatedly sticks the knife into Assange.
Every character, except for Assange, abides by a moral compass, including the British media, painting the world as black and white. We don’t need WikiLeaks to tell us that’s an illusion.
On screen, the white-haired Australian founder treats everyone, particularly nice guy Daniel, with lipcurling disdain, which forces us to question why the two men would continue to work together when one is painted as a monster.
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