The Report (2019)

Directed by: Scott Z. Burns | 119 minutes | biography, crime | Actors: Adam Driver, Corey Stoll, Evander Duck Jr., Jon Hamm, Linda Powell, Annette Bening, Sandra Landers, John Rothman, Victor Slezak, Guy Boyd, Alexander Chaplin, Joanne Tucker, Maura Tierney, Michael C. Hall, Ian Blackman Dominic Fumusa, Joseph Siravo, Sarah Goldberg, Lucas Dixon, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Zuhdi Boueri, Tim Blake Nelson, Ted Levine, Jennifer Morrison

First a bit of history, starting on September 11, 2001. The attacks of that day left the American security services more than gray hairs. According to them, it was necessary to stretch traditional interrogation techniques to prevent subsequent attacks. What they came up with was the term enhanced interrogation techniques, a euphemism for torture practices such as sleep deprivation and waterboarding. Those tortures were carried out on black sites, locations outside America where the interrogators could go about their business.

The legality of these movements and of these techniques was questionable. It didn’t take long for American politics to get involved. At the instigation of Senator Dianne Feinstein, a team of researchers recorded what exactly happened on those sites and how the responsible agency (CIA) thought it could get away with it. After years of detective work, the report was finally ready, a jaunty 7,000 pages. In the report nothing remained of the torture practices and of the CIA.

In the American political drama ‘The Report’, we follow lead investigator Daniel Jones (Adam Driver) on his journey to the truth. Of course he is thwarted on all sides by the CIA, but political interests will also play a role in the final version of the report. In between we go back in time, we see what the enhanced interrogation techniques look like in practice and how it could have come this far.

It makes for a fascinating film, especially the first hour. In this we see what a gap can yawn between theory and practice. We see a slick PowerPoint presentation of a bunch of commercially minded psychologists who want to get the interrogation assignment. Then we see how the innocent pictures of the presentation translate into the horrific practice.

The second part of the film is especially suitable for people who enjoyed a series like ‘House of Cards’. This concerns the balance of power within the American system, the complex interests and the dirty games that are played there. Fascinating up to and including, especially if you know how the American political system works.

All in all, ‘The Report’ is a credible tribute to whistleblowers. Brave individuals who sacrifice their own interests for a greater collective interest. And sometimes that works. The enhanced interrogation techniques have died a quiet death, partly due to 7,000 pages of nauseating truths.