The Dissident

Name: The Dissident
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Documentary
Released: December 25, 2020
Duration: 119 min
Rating: 81
Cast: Abdulhamit Gul, Anthony J. Ferrante, David Ignatius, Fahrettin Altun, Fatih Oke

2020

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 18 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Ratings

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7.8

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7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Ratings

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The Dissident

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Movie Details & Credits

Briarcliff Entertainment | Release Date: December 25, 2020 | PG-13

Starring: Abdulhamit Gul, Anthony J. Ferrante, David Ignatius, Fahrettin Altun, Fatih Oke, Hatice Cengiz, Jamal Khashoggi, John O. Brennan, Omar Abdulaziz, Turan Kislacki, Wadah Khanfar

Summary: When Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappears in Istanbul, his fiancée and dissidents around the world piece together the clues to a murder and expose a global cover up.

Director: Bryan Fogel

Genre(s): Thriller, Crime, Documentary

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 119 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Liam Lacey

Jan 8, 2021

Although The Dissident is, arguably, unnecessarily juiced-up with the editing and scoring of a Hollywood thriller, the excesses are balanced by the procedural rigour worthy of a crack prosecutor. Read full review

Todd McCarthy

Jan 25, 2020

This is a documentary both tragic and poignant, not to mention maddening in that only a few underlings, and not the perpetrators, will pay for the crime committed in Istanbul. The evidence is all here for the world to see. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

Jan 14, 2021

The Dissident feels essential. This is a somber piece of work; it’s not likely to cheer anyone up. But if the details of the Khashoggi case aren’t for the faint of heart, facing the facts squarely is at least somewhat cleansing. And as the story of a man who put his life on the line for his ideals, it’s as bracing a narrative as any novelist could invent. Read full review

Anthony Kaufman

Jan 25, 2020

The Dissident holds few new revelations but presents its case with enough infuriating evidence and storytelling power to make it worthwhile. Read full review

Empire Ian Freer

Feb 25, 2021

The Dissident explodes genres by combining them, equal parts political analysis, murder investigation, cyber thriller and paean to free speech. It also celebrates the life of late journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who tirelessly gave a voice to the voiceless.  Read full review

Noel Murray

Jan 5, 2021

For all its wealth of detail and thematic ambition, The Dissident is a good documentary that never quite becomes great. Because Fogel spends a lot of this film re-reporting a story that was in all the papers, all over the world, for months, watching The Dissident at times feels like hearing someone summarize a bestselling murder-mystery novel, while ominous “true crime” music plays incessantly on the soundtrack. Read full review

Bilge Ebiri

Jan 14, 2021

Amid all these narrative threads Fogel occasionally loses sight of what should be the beating heart of this film: Khashoggi himself, who often comes through as an ill-defined figure with relatively ill-defined politics and views. Read full review

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User Reviews

Soundcritic

Jan 21, 2021

An important story, it kept me on the edge of my seat. Well paced, easy to follow and not overdramatized.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

MELISSAR

Jan 31, 2021

This is a must see documentary that everyone must watch and rate. Otherwise, “the flies” will silence it and the message it conveys.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Brent_Marchant

Apr 8, 2021

As much as we think we know about the gruesome, unimaginable murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, there's more that we don't, and it's even more shocking than we ever thought. Director Bryan Fogel's chilling documentary about theAs much as we think we know about the gruesome, unimaginable murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, there's more that we don't, and it's even more shocking than we ever thought. Director Bryan Fogel's chilling documentary about the incident, what prompted it, and the fallout that has come from it -- both politically and personally for those who knew him -- is staggeringly infuriating. One can't help but wonder how those behind this killing could be so unspeakably cruel and cold-hearted, and all over differences in opinion and outlook about the scope of democracy in the writer's homeland. The film approaches this story from multiple angles, showing how they're interrelated and presenting them in a layered, progressive pattern that grows ever more damning and upsetting with each new revelation. This release is one that should make us all mad while we're watching it. How can we allow such acts to continue in this day and age? If we can't bring a halt to such atrocities, one can't help but wonder what kind of future we might all have.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Dec 30, 2020

The world was rocked by the revelation that Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered and dismembered in Istanbul’s Saudi consulate in 2018. This doc exposes the evidence behind this political crime, while profiling his brave outspoken criticism of the Saudi ArabianThe world was rocked by the revelation that Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered and dismembered in Istanbul’s Saudi consulate in 2018. This doc exposes the evidence behind this political crime, while profiling his brave outspoken criticism of the Saudi Arabian government. In addition to assembling interviews with government officials and others who’ve been affected by the country’s oppressive policies, the film uses elaborate animation to help broaden understanding and ominous music to add to the drama. At almost 2 hours, it could have been tightened for a more powerful effect. It sends the messages about freedom of speech numerous times and has repetitive statements that just slow the pace. Even so, it’s an informative film about outrageous corruption in the Middle East.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Jeeap

Jan 31, 2021

Below par documentary, with unsettling reverence for corporatism and totalitarisme

The film brings nothing new to the core story of khashoggi´s last days. Even if you didn't follow the story closely, the basic understanding of the story, that most of the world got through osmosis won't beBelow par documentary, with unsettling reverence for corporatism and totalitarisme

The film brings nothing new to the core story of khashoggi´s last days. Even if you didn't follow the story closely, the basic understanding of the story, that most of the world got through osmosis won't be challenged or expanded upon here.

Beside the trivial retelling of the sequence of events, the film tells the story a young Saudi activist. Which leads into short descriptions of troll-armies and the modern role of social media.

This is the only interesting part of the documentary, but it also leads into some major problems. To celebrate platforms like Twitter and Youtube, know for their mass censorship of anyone who doesn't all align with their political ideology - in a movie that is at its core about free speech - is spine-chilling.

The dissonance between watching a film dealing with totalitarisme and censorship while being subjected to a a corporate propaganda product is unsettling.

This feeling is only made worse as the movie start to idolize Jeff Bezos for cancelling an investment in Saudi Arabia, without ever bringing up why he would invest in a inhumane dictatorship in the first place. Just like it's never brings up how books challenging the corporate-democrat views are systematically purged from his Amazon sites. Or how his employees are treated.

Finally the obligatory Trump-bashing is ofcourse baked into this corporate product. Pretending that decades of arms and war profiteering is somehow a right or left wing question, or has to do specifically with the current administration is just insulting to the viewers. And a total misrepresentation of the issue.

It seems that everything from documentaries to comic-book-movies need to incorporate the same MSNBC talking-points to be produced in Hollywood today.

As a consequence the Dissident feels very much like every other hollow, mass produced hollywood product.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

Shahrani8088

Apr 12, 2021

Everyone behind this film is not neutral to Saudi Arabia
The US intelligence report also proved that there is no evidence for these allegations
So a fake movie

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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