Cover-Up

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Cover-Up

R

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1h 57m

Documentary

History

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100%

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37 Reviews

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Cover-Up is a political thriller that traces the explosive career of Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh. Urgent and deeply reported, Cover-Up is both a portrait of a relentless journalist and an indictment of institutional violence and the cycles of impunity in the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. Drawing on exclusive access to Hersh’s notes, and interweaving primary documents and archival footage, Cover-Up captures the power and process of investigative journalism.

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Critics Consensus

Cover-Up shines a light on Seymour Hersh's remarkable career and the pugnacious commitment it required, making for an absorbing and instructive treatise on journalistic responsibility.

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Manohla Dargis

New York Times

3d

Hersh is a tough, interesting cat, and this movie, by giving him his due and by addressing his failings, doesn’t simply tell the story of an individual but also of journalism.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

Dec 8

4/5

The perfect marriage of maker and material, this is a thrilling documentary profile.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Dec 8

A compelling and inspiring portrait of a one-off.

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Christopher Campbell

Nonfics (Substack)

3d

Cover-Up isn’t the best film about journalists this year, yet it ranks fairly well on our list of the best documentaries of 2025, partly because it does have a subject with great screen presence.

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Mark Dujsik

Mark Reviews Movies

3d

3/4

[T]he portrait of Hersh and his work that we do get here is insightful enough.

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Gregory Nussen

Screen Rant

3d

8/10

Hersh and Poitras fit together like hand in glove. Exceptional warriors for absolute truth and justice, both have made careers out of exposing systemic abuses of power in ways that have often made them enemies of the state.

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Mark Obenhaus

Director

Laura Poitras

Director

Seymour Hersh

Self

Mia Cioffi Henry

Cinematographer

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Synopsis

Cover-Up is a political thriller that traces the explosive career of Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh. Urgent and deeply reported, Cover-Up is both a portrait of a relentless journalist and an indictment of institutional violence and the cycles of impunity in the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. Drawing on exclusive access to Hersh’s notes, and interweaving primary documents and archival footage, Cover-Up captures the power and process of investigative journalism.

Director: Mark Obenhaus, Laura Poitras
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Praxis Films
Rating: R (Some Language)
Genre: Documentary, History
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 5, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 26, 2025
Runtime: 1h 57m