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Orwell: 2+2=5

Play trailer Poster for Orwell: 2+2=5 2025 1h 59m Biography Documentary History Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 12 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
From Academy Award®-nominated and BAFTA-winning director, Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro), Orwell is the definitive feature-length documentary on visionary author George Orwell, with the exclusive cooperation of the Orwell Estate. ‍"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past...," wrote Orwell in his novel, 1984. Today, the "newspeak" of authoritarian rule is alive and well and in unexpected places, from the rise of AI Chatbot to the Russian propaganda machine, from the marketing webs of commercial metaverses to the political banning of books in the Southern United States. Peck's "Orwell" will use George Orwell's life, work and legacy as a maverick iconoclastic writer to jam the signals of the algorithms gone rogue which, in the name of personal freedom, threaten to close our minds to a greater possibility.

Critics Reviews

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Robert Daniels RogerEbert.com “Orwell 2+2 = 5” is a frightening vision of life imitating art. But the director struggles to focus on specific themes, overloading the film by making as many links as possible. May 21, 2025 Full Review Stephanie Zacharek TIME Magazine Intricate and multi-layered, it covers a lot of territory in a runtime of roughly two hours; you might feel yourself racing to keep up with it. May 20, 2025 Full Review Jonathan Romney Screen International There are several documentaries in here, all struggling to make themselves heard -- perhaps the least complete of which is a tantalising portrait of Orwell as a complex social critic. May 19, 2025 Full Review Stephen A. Russell Flicks (AU, NZ, UK) Drawing on the visionary writer’s diary, it deftly weaves his prophetic warning about the insidious creep of fascism in the face of lazy apathy with the stark reality of where we are now in ways that will haunt you. Jun 18, 2025 Full Review Sara Martínez Ruiz Espinof Explicit and specific, the film occasionally gets lost in its own narrative, despite having a very clear and defined editorial line. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/5 May 23, 2025 Full Review Eulàlia Iglesias Caimán Cuadernos de Cine It is in this nonlinear yet highly dynamic, fragmentary yet resonant journey through Orwell's intimate figure, literary work, and political thought that Peck's new proposal finds its greatest appeal. [Full review in Spanish] May 22, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

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Raoul Peck

Director

Alex Gibney

Producer

Blair Foster

Producer

Tamara Rosenberg

Producer

Nick Shumaker

Producer
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Orwell: 2+2=5

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Movie Info

Synopsis From Academy Award®-nominated and BAFTA-winning director, Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro), Orwell is the definitive feature-length documentary on visionary author George Orwell, with the exclusive cooperation of the Orwell Estate. ‍"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past...," wrote Orwell in his novel, 1984. Today, the "newspeak" of authoritarian rule is alive and well and in unexpected places, from the rise of AI Chatbot to the Russian propaganda machine, from the marketing webs of commercial metaverses to the political banning of books in the Southern United States. Peck's "Orwell" will use George Orwell's life, work and legacy as a maverick iconoclastic writer to jam the signals of the algorithms gone rogue which, in the name of personal freedom, threaten to close our minds to a greater possibility.
Director
Raoul Peck
Producer
Alex Gibney, Blair Foster, Tamara Rosenberg, Nick Shumaker
Production Co
Closer Media, Anonymous Content, Jigsaw Productions
Genre
Biography, Documentary, History
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 59m