Agentes del caos

BECAUSE IT'S VERY DRY AND QUITE EXPANSIVE.

Now buckle in because that's the only light-hearted bit you're getting. Gibney's sprawling account of Russian ties to the 2016 US election is a massive achievement and rather meticulous - and like any piece of investigative journalism it doesn't really answer any questions or provide many simple truths. It's pleasingly intricate and despite being deeply American doesn't opt for many of the hyperbole that mires US documentary work.

In terms of the subject matter there's rather a lack of American investigative journalists - you've got a Yahoo! News journo but most of the US talking heads are sincere but biased big-hitters like former deputy director of the FBI or National Security Council member Celeste Wallander. This is a choice of course, and hearing from some of the central players in the narrative is quite compelling, although it means that you only get the merest tantalizing glimpse of the larger social context for a lot of what it all means beyond fairly high tier political figures, however odd they may be.

As other reviewers have hinted, as enormous as this documentary is, there is likely an even larger story at play here and these elements that Gibney has laboriously pieced together is only the view from the present. What revelations are to come are going to be all the more fascinating - and hopefully will be communicated in a slightly more succinct fashion.

This is a desperately complex story with multiple threads. It's a more sedate Active Measures, which is no bad thing.

Let's be fair, the full unclassified version of events won't appear for another 50 years.

This doc spreads the blame to everyone for 2016, where it should be. Don't care what anyone says or tells you. It points out the role that Trump (realistically) played, the role Hilary played (her team really let her down), the role the DNC played, the role Obama's administration played, and the role Russia (well the small group) played. Also talks about the role of media, not just mainstream, but independent as well and the events that happened before 2016. Anyone with a real bias eye, this is what you want, someone to point out the faults of all parties involved. It breaks down the social engineering taking place by BOTH, yes, BOTH parties. Look, I would tell anyone to watch The Social Dilemma, Frontline 20/20-Trump vs Biden (they breakdown both tactics very well) and this, you won't be disappointed with the knowledge.

Sad story about where we are heading. Polarisation of the world just so the narrative will suit a few.

This documentary hits all the important points of Russia's involvement in interfering not only in the Ukraine, but also in the 2016 election in its myriad of ways. It paints an accurate picture of Putin and Russia's cunning propaganda campaigns. It also lays a lot of honest blame on government officials and media where it is deserved.

I only give it 9 stars because it could have been more detailed about how Russia interferes all over the West with its propaganda campaigns. There is an equally important story how Russia is generally trying to undermine the democratic West, so Putin doesn't look so bad being a dictator.