We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

Arriving in cinemas just after the NSA surveillance scandal and the one-year anniversary of Julian Assange's stay in the Ecuadorian embassy, the release of We Steal Secrets couldn't be more timely. In truth, there's little in Alex Gibney's film that won't be familiar to attentive news watchers, but this skilled documentarian has mastered the art of condensing a vast and complex amount of information into a gripping and entertaining package. As in Taxi to the Dark Side and Mea Maxima Culpa, Gibney expertly manages to locate a compelling narrative path through these events, but he also makes detours to probe the larger and ongoing questions of state secrecy and individual privacy, with the revelation of the film's title offering a surprising twist. At the centre of We Steal Secrets are two fascinating characters. The elusive Assange is the star attraction, of course, but ultimately it is the story of Bradley Manning – army misfit turned sacrificial lamb – that lingers in the memory after watching, and gives this absorbing documentary an unexpected emotional punch.