Orwell: 2+2=5
Raoul Peck’s urgent documentary portrait of George Orwell connects the writer’s warnings about propaganda and totalitarian power to the political anxieties of the present.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- None
- urgent
- paranoid
- intellectually serious
- political discussion
- literary study
What critics said
Critics broadly praise the documentary's urgency, political relevance, archival energy, and narration while finding its effort to cover biography, interpretation, and polemic somewhat overloaded.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film centers Orwell's writings, especially 1984, while drawing explicit parallels with current geopolitics and Donald Trump's America.
Raoul Peck balances Orwell's life and intellectual development with an urgent argument about empire, power, totalitarianism, and contemporary politics.
Archive footage of Orwell and political figures including George W. Bush, Viktor Orbán, Colin Powell, and Joseph Stalin broadens the film's historical frame.
The title invokes Orwell's equation 2+2=5 and the film's central concern with propaganda, Big Brother, totalitarianism, and manipulated reality.
Films like Orwell: 2+2=5, and why
HyperNormalisation
political documentary examining authoritarianism, propaganda, and contemporary power through a forceful essayistic approach
The Booksellers
biographical documentary about a major writer that connects literary ideas to political history and public life
Where to Invade Next
urgent political documentary using archival material and intellectual argument to critique modern power structures
The Pervert's Guide to Ideology
essayistic documentary linking historical ideology, mass communication, and contemporary political anxiety
Movie Details
- Director
- Raoul Peck
- Release Date
- 2025-10-03
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (50)
Cast
- Damian Lewis
- George Orwell
- George W. Bush
- Viktor Orbán
- Colin Powell
- Joseph Stalin
- Malcolm X
- Ernest Hemingway
- Salman Rushdie
- Albert Einstein
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Hulu
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Orwell: 2+2=5 about?
- Raoul Peck’s urgent documentary portrait of George Orwell connects the writer’s warnings about propaganda and totalitarian power to the political anxieties of the present.
- What is Orwell: 2+2=5 like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Orwell: 2+2=5 as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.
- Is Orwell: 2+2=5 violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Orwell: 2+2=5.
- What did critics think of Orwell: 2+2=5?
- Critics broadly praise the documentary's urgency, political relevance, archival energy, and narration while finding its effort to cover biography, interpretation, and polemic somewhat overloaded.
- Which films are like Orwell: 2+2=5?
- Films with a similar feel include HyperNormalisation, The Booksellers, Where to Invade Next, and The Pervert's Guide to Ideology.
- How long is Orwell: 2+2=5?
- Orwell: 2+2=5 runs 119 minutes.
- Where can I watch Orwell: 2+2=5?
- In United States, Orwell: 2+2=5 streams on Hulu.
