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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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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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Sam Adams Slate It’s dazzling and terrifying, a guide to a political movement that has been gathering steam for decades and shows no signs of letting up. Aug 6, 2025 Full Review Steve Pond TheWrap Orwell: 2+2=5 is an artful balancing act, one that dips in and out of Orwell’s life and work, but also uses a broad array of reference points as it swings from history to art to the most current of events. Aug 6, 2025 Full Review 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 KT Mahe For Your Reference Podcast The teachings of Orwell take a more tragic poetic turn for audiences as his historical views prove to still be challenging for well-meaning people today. Rated: 4/5 Aug 1, 2025 Full Review John McDonald johnmcdonald.net.au To read Orwell today is to be struck by the predictive value of his work. He may have been too pessimistic about the year 1984, but the world is trying to hard re-fashion itself in conformity with his worst imaginings. Jul 22, 2025 Full Review James Mottram Radio Times Where the film really bites is in explicitly pairing the author's prescient ideas about capitalism and totalitarianism with well-chosen modern-day archive film. Rated: 3/5 Jul 11, 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