The Cost of Leaking the Truth

Read Time:5 Minute, 40 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
The Six Billion Dollar Man
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Genre: Documentary, Biography, Political
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 2h 09m
Director(s): Eugene Jarecki
Where to Watch: in UK and Irish Cinemas, December 19, 2025

RAVING REVIEW: This documentary approaches Julian Assange like the eye of a storm, not a martyr standing on a hill. THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR MAN treats him as a symbol caught between governments, surveillance systems, fractured narratives, and the terrifying frame of a world where information itself is weaponized. Eugene Jarecki’s award-winning return to the political documentary form is the kind of film that’s less interested in what Assange did, moment to moment, than in what his existence reveals about how power operates today. It’s confident, concentrated, and structured with the tension of a political thriller, even as it tackles territory that’s been explored before. What’s new is the scale and the access.

Jarecki’s approach showed that WikiLeaks exposed the scale of modern surveillance so clearly that the response functioned as a warning to anyone who might follow. The film opens with a tone that underlines that framing. The director calls the public narrative “choreographed by those in power,” emphasizing that what the public learned about Assange was filtered through interests larger than the man himself. That theme is repeatedly reinforced in the structure and interviews, making the film feel less like a biography and more like a case study of how states flex their muscles against individuals who disrupt their flow. The documentary is a “high-stakes investigation into truth, power, and the global fight for press freedom,” drawing on unprecedented access and never-before-seen material.

Jarecki is an editor of mood as much as content: his archive footage doesn’t try to feel neutral. Instead, it carries a pulse, designed to reinforce the stakes and immediacy of the questions at hand. At its best, the documentary is gripping — uncomfortably so—because the more persuasive it becomes about state retaliation, the more helpless the viewer feels watching someone go through a geopolitical grind machine. The included interviews with figures like Edward Snowden and Naomi Klein, who contextualize Assange’s impact, add a layer of credibility and sharpness. The presence of Assange’s legal team, former political allies, critics, and accidental players deepens that reach.

The scale of participation here—Snowden, Nils Melzer, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa—creates a strange contrast. The film becomes crowded with perspectives from across legal systems and ideological divides. In moments, that density helps the documentary feel “complete,” the kind that gets called definitive, like a box being checked: all major voices present, all angles covered. At other times, the sheer weight of testimony can flatten Assange into an icon rather than a person. Jarecki clearly recognizes that tension; he lets Assange fade into the concept of Assange, which is safer territory for a film that isn’t about whether the man is perfect, but whether systems should crush those who expose their flaws.

That choice also reflects Jarecki’s stated intent—not advocacy, but a question about what happens when someone threatens centers of power. The director says directly that this isn’t a film about martyrdom or activism. It’s about consequences: the reaction to WikiLeaks says as much about the world as WikiLeaks itself. The documentary’s title, which references the financial implications of Ecuador’s IMF loan after housing Assange, functions as a metaphor and an accusation. It asks the audience to imagine the cost of truth on an economic scale, rather than a moral one. Some viewers will find this provocative; others may find it heavy-handed.

The film's greatest strength is its clarity. Even if you’ve followed the Assange story for a decade, there’s value in seeing the entire arc connected from beginning to now, with sudden reveals embedded in sequences you thought you understood. Jarecki has a history of tracing political systems across time without losing emotional connection, and this film follows suit. He treats editorial rhythm like a pressure valve: build tension, release tension, reframe.

One of the most impactful elements is its connection of Assange’s story to the present rather than freezing him in a past controversy. The documentary consistently frames the stakes in terms of the erosion of press freedom and the shrinking frontier of accountability. In a world now filled with AI disinformation, hostile governments, and public exhaustion with truth debates, Assange’s original mission feels strangely prescient. The press material describes the film as “a warning and a provocation”, pushing the idea that bearing witness is no longer an institutional duty, but an individual one. It’s a statement that hits harder in 2025 than it ever did in 2010.

There’s also the reality that this material is emotionally charged and politically radioactive. Every viewer brings a pre-existing stance. The film knows that. It leans into the idea that this story has no neutral ground left. That’s both a strength and a limitation. For some, it will feel validating; for others, combative. As a piece of documentary filmmaking, the approach works because it commits. Jarecki’s projects have always been about choosing a perspective and following it without apology. THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR MAN is a strong, well-constructed political documentary with an unmistakable voice. It’s persuasive without pretending to be neutral, informative without losing cinematic momentum.

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[photo courtesy of WATERMELON PICTURES, CHARLOTTE STREET FILMS, EDGEWOOD WAY]

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