George Orwell was one of the most radical and visionary authors of the 20th Century, whose 1940s novels, such as 1984 and Animal Farm, foretold a chilling, all-too-believable authoritarian future that has become scarily prescient in our modern era. Acclaimed director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro), working in collaboration with the Orwell Estate, seamlessly interweaves historical clips, readings from Orwell’s diary, cinematic references, and dynamic modern day footage to craft the definitive portrait of the writer himself–Orwell: 2+2=5. 

Peck, who has his his own personal connection to the material–as an 8-year-old he was forced to flee the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti–doesn’t just present the information but shows new ways of seeing it, drawing patterns and connections we might not otherwise realize, and creating a stimulating and thought-provoking experience for the viewer at every turn. 

As terms like “Big Brother” and “Newspeak” become more prevalent and ominous with each passing day, Orwell: 2+2=5, featuring award-winning actor Damian Lewis as the voice of Orwell, provides a stirring depiction of the dangers of power and the fragility of so-called civilized society, told through the eyes of a man from the past who just might hold the key to the world’s future.