Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5

Play trailer

1:57

Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5

Now Playing

1h 59m

Documentary

Biography

History

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

60 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 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.

Now in Theaters

Now Playing

Buy Tickets

Critics Consensus

Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 is a dense, urgent, and unapologetically blunt documentary that offers a chillingly relevant examination of totalitarianism's enduring appeal and the societal conditions that enable it.

Read Critics Reviews

Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (LAist)

It kind of keeps making [the same] point, but that point is painfully relevant and necessary to hear now.

Nov 11, 2025

Full Review

Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

I particularly enjoyed the images that Peck would bump up against [Orwell's] text to illustrate what George was talking about. You can build a picture in your mind with words, but a picture doesn't hurt.

Nov 11, 2025

Full Review

Sarah-Tai Black

Globe and Mail

Despite its unevenness at times, Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 is a sprawling work that offers itself as a frightening historical record. Indeed, it is perhaps the most soberingly didactic of Peck’s works.

Oct 8, 2025

Full Review

Louisa Moore

Screen Zealots

Intellectually stimulating but emotionally flat, the documentary relies too much on condescending, heavy-handed commentary. The big ideas are there, but the film is poorly executed and boring.

Nov 6, 2025

Full Review

Brian Lowry

Status News

Like all of Peck's work, "Orwell: 2+2=5" is highly cinematic, and as urgent as a punch to the gut.

Rated: 9/10

Nov 5, 2025

Full Review

Charles Mudede

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

A humanizing portrait of a mythologically large 20th-century social commentator.

Oct 22, 2025

Full Review

Read all reviews

Gregg Y

Informative and visually captivating

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/18/25

Full Review

RG

Very intense and very thoughtful. Agreed with much of it, but its so overtly one-sided that detracts a bit from its credibility. Lots of horrors that humans inflict upon one another shown, but no reference to 9/11 or the October 7, 2023 assault by Hamas.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/13/25

Full Review

Art A.

Many useful historical points but overall, the film creators are heavy handed with their political opinions while railing against Orwellian style forced political opinions. An odd contradiction. Lovely cinematography.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/10/25

Full Review

Mateus O

it was very intense and thoughtful!!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/26/25

Full Review

A Hunter S

Stunningly crafted, thoughtful and direct. Truly well considered portrayal of, yes, Orwell's life and influences, but also of the unfolding world in which fascism is again on the rise—and all that he warned us about coming to life. Really brilliant.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/23/25

Full Review

David S

Jumbled, overwrought, and too blunt.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

10/16/25

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Raoul Peck

Director

Damian Lewis

Narrator

Raoul Peck

Writer

Alex Gibney

Producer

Blair Foster

Producer

Tamara Rosenberg

Producer

Orwell: 2+2=5: Trailer 1

1:57

View more videos

View more photos

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, George Chignell, Raoul Peck
Screenwriter: Raoul Peck
Distributor: NEON
Production Co: Closer Media, Anonymous Content, Jigsaw Productions
Genre: Documentary, Biography, History
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 3, 2025, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $350.3K
Runtime: 1h 59m

Most Popular at Home Now