Risk

Play trailer

1:25

Risk

Released May 5, 2017

1h 24m

Documentary

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

80%

Tomatometer

101 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Filmmaker Laura Poitras gains unprecedented access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his team for six years.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Risk poses knotty questions regarding documentary filmmaking ethics, but remains consistently compelling despite its flaws.

Read Critics Reviews

K. Austin Collins

The Ringer

Poitras captures all of this in images that shimmer with clarity and precision. There's something wonderfully clear-eyed about Risk, even as the questions and moods it ignites are murky and unsettling.

Aug 10, 2017

Full Review

Simran Hans

Observer (UK)

The access is impressive, and the oily, paranoid and "ruthlessly pragmatic" persona that emerges here is candid enough despite Poitras's intermittent narration.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 2, 2017

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

A serviceable portrait of vanity.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 30, 2017

Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

The release of Poitras' film has become the occasion for large portions of the American media to vent their malicious hatred of Assange.

Feb 11, 2021

Full Review

Dustin Chang

ScreenAnarchy

Filmmaker Laura Poitras seems deeply conflicted yet committed to tell the truth in her new documentary.

Jul 17, 2020

Full Review

Steven Prokopy

Third Coast Review

Risk is essential viewing and easily the first must-see documentary I've seen this year.

May 6, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

E B

This should be good. Topic has so much potential. But it is so lacking. How do people get paid to make things such a chore to consume?

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/06/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Director makes interesting topic boring. Also inserts herself in story too much.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The documentary Risk from director Laura Poitras is an engrossing and fascinating portrait of a man that history has yet failed to fully grasp. Julian Assange would like to be thought of as the Robin Hood of the information era, robbing the rich of their secrets and sharing them with the world. But Assange's choice to make himself the public face of his Wikileaks organization has unquestionably gone to his head and rendered him a paranoid and strange figure who believes conspiracies against him are hiding behind every corner. https://geeks.media/movie-review-risk?_ga=2.96904415.1126457623.1513947710-953607229.1513947710

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As slow as the whole Wikileaks's saga

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A little choppy around the edges but in the main a continuous narrative all the same. An honest portrayal of Julian Assange & many of his delemmas confronting his struggle for transparency in a world starving for it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good information. Nice photography. Story not very well told.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Laura Poitras

Director

Julian Assange

Self

Laura Poitras

Producer

Brenda Coughlin

Producer

Sam Esmail

Executive Producer

Michael Bloom

Executive Producer

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

91%

75%

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

Watchlist

Citizenfour

96%

87%

Citizenfour

Watchlist

The Proposal

97%

38%

The Proposal

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Proposal

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold

89%

80%

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold

Watchlist

Rush: Time Stand Still

80%

84%

Rush: Time Stand Still

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Rush: Time Stand Still

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Is Certified Fresh

Risk: Trailer 1

1:25

Risk: Trailer 1

1:25

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Filmmaker Laura Poitras gains unprecedented access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his team for six years.

Director: Laura Poitras
Producer: Laura Poitras, Brenda Coughlin
Distributor: Showtime Documentary Films, Neon
Production Co: Praxis Films, First Look Media, Field of Vision
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 5, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $197.6K
Runtime: 1h 24m

Most Popular at Home Now