Surveilled: Bajo espionaje

The film follows Ronan Farrow's investigation for the New Yorker into the Pegasus spy technology. It's a hot topic and something that interests me, so I decided to see it. However, I write this review with the feeling that my time would have been better spent if I had just read the article instead of watching the whole picture.

On the plus side, it does serve to recall some recent espionage scandals (albeit mostly just mentioned) and effectively raises the question 'Do you think it's posible to have a world where such a thing exists and it's used responsibly?' The Catalan example makes you ponder that.

On the downside, I think this piece lacks the virtues of a good didactic documentary. It is rather a TV product: it focuses on selling Ronan to the public and doesn't dig deep enough into the subject. I missed more information on how Elies or Citizen Lab manage to uncover the infiltrations and also more on other espionage cases. I was hesitating whether to give it a 5 or a 4. After reading other reviews I gave it a 4.

Unfortunately, this documentary is nowhere near as hard hitting as it makes out to be. The scope of the investigation is rather narrow. Especially given the accusations about countries in the Middle East and Africa abusing modern surveillance technology, none of this is actually substantiated. Instead the investigation focuses on one ology provider (who opened their doors willingly in a PR trust exercise), the US, and Spain. To make things worse, the style of the documentation is heavily focused on the author and narrator, Ronan Farrow, and therefore turns into a personality show about him, rather than the real subject matter. This leaves the viewer with a sense of a missed opportunity.

H, HBO, how the mighty have fallen. Once a beacon of insightful and nuanced documentaries, you've now apparently decided to trade substance for sensationalism with 'Surveilled.' This supposed 'documentary' feels less like investigative journalism and more like a poorly scripted scare tactic designed to whip the public into a frenzy of paranoia.

The premise, a shallow dive into the supposed omnipresence of surveillance, is delivered with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Instead of presenting balanced arguments and exploring the complexities of the issue, we're subjected to a relentless barrage of ominous music, distorted visuals, and breathless pronouncements of impending doom. It's less a documentary and more a horror movie, minus the jump scares (though, the sheer level of manipulative editing certainly tries).

And let's talk about the 'experts' featured in this production. A parade of individuals, each seemingly chosen for their ability to deliver pronouncements with maximum gravitas, their voices often artificially deepened or otherwise altered to sound 'authoritative'. The vocal fry epidemic is also in full effect, with every other interviewee sounding like they're struggling to keep their voice from descending into a gravel pit. It's less informative and more like a bizarre vocal exercise.

The once-respected HBO Documentary Films brand has been tarnished by this exercise in fearmongering. Where are the in-depth explorations? The nuanced perspectives? The balanced analysis? Instead, we're left with a shallow, manipulative piece of 'journalism' that prioritizes shock value over substance. It's a sad day when HBO, a network that once championed thoughtful documentaries, descends into the realm of cheap, sensationalist drivel. If 'Surveilled' is any indication, HBO's documentary division has lost its way, trading its legacy for a quick and dirty attempt to scare the public. Avoid at all costs."

Being in the truth community for the last four years it kind of became obvious to me what these smart devices were really about.

Harari said at a WEF conference that humans are hackable animals and that free will is over. We now know what you're thinking (NeuroLink)

It seems that everything is about surveillance and data harvesting as data is money.

In order to stop them harvesting your data it's best to throw away your smart devices. Use a laptop that's hard wired.

The only smart device I have is a tablet that never leaves my home but it's difficult when you leave as you're captured many times through 5G Face Recognition.

I think Max Igan recently spoke about Pegasus.

An incredibly important topic, but sadly this doc is ruined by the fact Farrow seems to be the president of his own fanclub and apparently had to make sure he's in every second frame. We get it, you're a big time hot shot. However, this movie would have greatly benefitted from him taking a step back - literally - and let the troubling facts speak for themselves. A good documenary filmmaker is invisible. At least if your name is not Louis Theroux. Somebody should pass that info along to Farrow. Massively wasted opportunity and a rare miss from the otherwise very strong HBO documentary departement.