Reality: Destined for Stardom
Sometimes the next great movie star is a bit of a surprise. Coming from out of nowhere to take the world by storm to suddenly appear all over your screens. Other times you can see it coming. Through a long line of great work, the actual stardom seems inevitable. For Sydney Sweeney, the breakout star of the HBO series, Euphoria and the latest Max original Reality, we are in the midst of the latter.
Reality is the retelling of the FBI interview with Air Force linguist and NSA contractor, Reality Winner (Sidney Sweeney). With dialogue pulled directly from recordings of the interview about leaked classified information pertaining to Russian interference in the 2016 election. The film is driven by these conversations. Which makes for slower pacing, serious in its tone and quiet in its delivery. All of this challenges Sweeney to drive this film in more subtle ways.
Being the title character, Sweeney beautifully carries this film. She conveys complex, layered emotion through her body more than her words. It makes for a more emotionally resonant performance because it feels more authentic. You connect with Reality and her situation because it’s easy to identify with her emotions all throughout the film. A further testament to Sweeney’s execution.
As complex a task as this one, it gains further complexity in its storytelling. Operating from an assumption that most of us are unfamiliar with the situation, the story reveals to us slowly and through her eyes. We only learn something when she does. What this creates, is the space for Sweeney to navigate through more emotion as her situation becomes more and more clear. Fear, disbelief, confusion, acceptance and even a bit of anger are all across her face and in her body language. Each is clearly represented and affecting because they are so genuine. Ultimately, she controls the story and how the audience emotionally responds to it. A responsibility that could bury an actor but one where Sweeney shines.
Sydney Sweeney’s ability to carry this film elevates it. Reality is a great film, one of the better films of the year and one of the best you’ll see in this genre. While Sweeney’s performance is a big part of it, the film apart from her maintains the high level set by its lead. Specifically the direction by Tina Satter, in her feature debut, is quite good. Creating tension from non hostile moments and conversations is very hard. Satter is able to draw it out in spades. Her blocking, cinematography choices, when to bring in the score and how to reveal the details of the story, all push you closer to the edge of your seat.
How the film handles redacted information is also very clever and unique. It’s a bit jarring at first but once you get it, it becomes another source of tension. Josh Hamilton and Marchant Davis star alongside Sweeney as the FBI agents Garrick and Taylor. Each has a delicate job of probing for information without tipping their hands and both manage the task well. They both team well with Sweeney to fill out the film. Overall it is truly a great film that is firing on all cylinders.
As great as the film is, one which should be seen by as many people as possible, the takeaway will be Sydney Sweeney. She is incredible in this film. This isn’t the type of film that will create a movie star, it is the exact film to help her journey continue. Reality is a completely different type of film and character for her. It showcases a skill set that we haven’t seen yet. She is also the driving force of this film, which is very difficult. At this point it only seems a matter of time before she is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Reality shows us that she is the total package and it’s exciting to see an actor this talented head toward their destined stardom.
