Top notch, well worth two hours of your time.

Rating: 9/10 (28 January 2020)

This is an original, brooding, and sometimes sinister film.
First, the technical stuff. It's all extremely good. The acting is exceptional. Gyllenhaal is brilliant as the psychopathic lead, who sometimes exhibits moments of calculated exploitative warmth towards his vulnerable employee to make him do what he wants. He is a cynical manipulator, only interested in absorbing any information he can to get ahead and make money. He has no scruples. There are several moments where one expects him to do something human, but he never quite gets there. Some of the directorial and acting magic here is in making you think he might get there.
Rene Russo is scorching as the beautiful but cynical TV director. When I was watching I didn't realise it was Rene Russo, and I was curious as to who this fantastic actress was. I was surprised when I read it was her because she owned the role so effectively, I just saw her as a unique character. The relationship between the two leads is the best part of the film. Just as Gyllenhal manipulates his employee in a two dimensional way, Russo uses Gyllenhal in a much more subtle way. The power dynamic between these two excellent actors is tense and smouldering throughout. They are an excellent couple.
Everything else is great. Cinematography, sound, atmosphere are all bang on, The world that this film is set is our world, but it feels darkly dystopian due to the way the story unfolds and the subject matter.
This is a story about our society and about us. It's about what we are willing to demand, then observe and consume. In a free marketplace of ideas where we can absorb any information that we wish to, no matter how extreme, it explores how that environment can be ruthlessly exploited and indeed manipulated for gain by those with no morals, no scruples and no humanity. There are lessons in this story for law makers, counter terrorism practitioners, police and academics. Do you ever feel manipulated by what you watch? Then watch this film.