From Euphoria and The White Lotus to Sharp Objects and The Handmaid’s Tale, Sydney Sweeney has become synonymous with excellence over the years.

You better believe, then, that our ears pricked up when we learned that the talented actor is bringing a compelling new film to our screens. Especially as the docudrama has been lavished with praise since its buzzy world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Here’s everything you need to know about Reality.

What is Reality about?

Directed by Tina Satter, this new film focuses its lens on Reality Winner, a woman convicted of leaking a confidential report on Russian election interference to the media. And, somewhat daringly, it contains verbatim dialogue from the unedited transcript of an FBI audio recording, capturing a tense 90 minutes as the FBI interrogated Winner at her home in 2017. 

“Reality, what if I said you printed out classified information?” one of the FBI agents asks her. 

“That document has made its way outside of NSA – and the most likely candidate is you.”

Watch the trailer for Reality below:

The former US Air Force member and NSA translator was found guilty and sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison.

“My actions were a cruel betrayal of my nation’s trust in me,” she said at her sentencing.

Who stars in Reality?

Sweeney takes the lead in Reality as its the eponymous whistleblower, and has already been lauded by critics for her mesmerising performance.

Josh Hamilton and Marchánt Davis, meanwhile, star opposite Sweeney as FBI agents Taylor and Garrick respectively.

What are people saying about Reality?

Speaking about the critically acclaimed film at a press conference in Berlin, Sweeney explained that she studied Winner’s interviews in order to adapt her mannerisms and way of speaking for the audition. She also, as per Variety, spent some time speaking with the woman she was portraying via Zoom.

“When Tina connected us I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is a dream for an actor, because I’m actually getting to speak to the real person; I’m getting to dive more into their mind and what she’s gone through in her life,’” Sweeney said.

Satter, meanwhile, said: “One of the most key things to this that would be interesting for more people in the United States and around the world to understand is the Espionage Act under which she [Winner] was charged, which is an act from 1917 about containing a flow of information – before the digital age. 

“It’s a really old law that there’s no way to defend against. That’s actually a really relevant and interesting thing for people in the United States to understand that’s still being deployed and what that means for all of us living in a democracy.”

When and how can we watch Reality?

Reality will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 2 June.

Following its American premiere via HBO on 29 May, US audiences, meanwhile, will be able to stream the film via the newly rebranded Max streaming service

Images: HBO