We are living in times where up is down, and down is up. The propaganda slogans found in George Orwell’s 1984: War is peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength — have never felt more prescient than they do in our present moment. This is why the documentary Orwell: 2+2=5 from acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck is so essential for this moment. The film takes us through the life and mind of Orwell in his own words. At the same time, he ties his famous works and legacy to the present day. A monumental task with ambition, but for the urgency of this moment, the film feels more like a laborious seminar than a clarion call.
Orwell: 2+2=5 is a massive documentary that uses the words of George Orwell (Narrated as Orwell by Damian Lewis) to take us through the author’s early life and the radical impetus that led to the creation of such novels as Animal Farm and 1984. For a significant portion of the film’s runtime, it delves into Orwell’s life. We see a vivid portrait of the writer and visionary. The movie intercuts clips and moments from film adaptations of Orwell’s seminal works, as well as others, while splicing together historical and modern-day perspectives to illustrate the man’s prescient eye for the future of humanity.
The film’s strength lies in using Orwell’s own words. His fictional works and political musings draw a through line to modern day. The commentary is too on the nose, but in uncertain times, nuance is not necessarily the appropriate order. However, the film bears the weight of too many pieces existing to create an overall cohesive structure–there is a lack of discipline. The film strives to give us an insight into Orwell’s life and the genesis of his ideas, while also showing how what Orwell wrote connects the dots to the challenges and problems that exist in our modern world.
The film muddies its attempt to make a definitive conclusion. Those who are familiar with the works of Orwell will no doubt be surprised by this film’s course of events. However, those for whom this film is actually intended will likely not see it, or if they do, will zone out thanks to the film’s uneven pacing. It is that point which prevents this film from having immediate staying power and relevance in this moment in history. There is an overabundance of thoughts. Journalistic musings and interspersed media clippings result in a film that feels more like a web of ideas than a straight line.
Still, that does not deny the film’s necessary existence at a time when newspeak and Big Brother are no longer far-fetched ideas, but nightmarish realities. Where it does stick the landing is speaking to the significant, more ethereal challenges that are as real now as they were when Orwell first put pen to paper. In fact, it is a cyclical pronouncement on history, as it is humanity.
In the span of less than a century, we see his prescient words in a book of fiction have come to harsh reality in our world today. Truth is under constant threat, and Orwellian dictum prevails across boundaries. The film’s message is pertinent and more effective than its delivery. The problems, the film’s diagnosis, have become all too real and noticeable in our world today.
We have always been living in George Orwell’s world, but now we are becoming aware of it. Despite its flaws, the film leaves with a compelling portrait of a radical thinker. And, if you squint, it is a roadmap to understanding how the past shapes the future —and, terrifyingly enough, vice versa.
Orwell: 2+2=5 is currently playing in select theaters courtesy of NEON. The film will continue to expand to additional markets in the coming weeks.
We have always been living in George Orwell's world, but now we are becoming aware of it. Despite its flaws, the film leaves with a compelling portrait of a radical thinker. And, if you squint, it is a roadmap to understanding how the past shapes the future —and, terrifyingly enough, vice versa.
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GVN Rating
Writing & podcasting, for the love of movies.
His Letterboxd Favorites: The Dark Knight, Halloween, Jaws & Anora.
