Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5
Neon | Release Date: October 10, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
EmpireNeil AlcockMar 26, 2026
A bitter howl at the injustice of the modern world, intellectualised through one of literature’s shrewdest figures. Powerful and eye-opening, but Orwell himself might have preferred a less partisan approach. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 26, 2026
This is a serious and worthwhile film, though one that tells you what you know already, and yet somehow perhaps doesn’t tell you enough. Read full review
60
Time OutMatthew SingerMar 25, 2026
In his documentary-cum-video essay Orwell: 2+2=5, director Raoul Peck juxtaposes the British writer’s words with a flood of the same distressing images inundating our social media feeds, from Ukraine to Gaza, South America to the United States. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanOct 3, 2025
2+2 = 5 is a movie that very much leans toward chronicling the brutality and violence of despotic regimes, and is less interested in exploring how they toy with your brain. Read full review
60
Screen DailyJonathan RomneyMay 24, 2025
There’s no denying the film’s urgency, and audiences will certainly leave with plenty to chew over, but Peck doesn’t aid the thinking process by overloading us, where a more focused reading of Orwell’s key ideas could have yielded a much more cogent argument. Read full review
50
The Irish TimesTara BradyMar 27, 2026
The film attempts both an in-depth portrait of the late author and a scattershot meditation on the persistence of his ideas. Read full review
40
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsMar 26, 2026
The filmmaker draws some arresting audiovisual cues into the patchwork of images, but the film lacks some of the goofy wit of British documentarian Adam Curtis, whose own provocative essays at least offer some element of surprise (even when they don’t work themselves). Read full review
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