– Powerful, Terrifying, and Unnerving –
by Ross Bonaime | Collider | October 3, 2025
8 out of 10 stars
At this point, it sometimes feels like a cliché or reductive to say that our modern world is like 1984, George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel released in 1949, or to say things have become “Orwellian.” But Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5, the latest documentary from I Am Not Your Negro director Raoul Peck, posits that the world is remarkably close to Orwell’s writing, has been for a long time, and it’s terrifying what this means for humankind. With his latest film, Peck presents the life and work of Orwell, while also showcasing just how prophetic Orwell’s writing was to our current situation and the way of the world. In doing this, Peck creates one of the most urgent and terrifying films of the year.
What Is ‘Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5’ About?
In just two hours, Peck crams so much information into the dense Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5, which is both a necessity and a negative. Peck gives a broad rundown of Orwell’s life, from his time as a child growing up in the lower upper middle class, to a boy who saw himself as a “snob and a revolutionary” at the age of 17. Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 takes us through key parts of his life that defined who he was, such as his time working for the British police in Burma, which helped form his worldview on oppressors and totalitarianism. Orwell’s ideas get the brunt of the screentime, while some of the more personal aspects, his loves and his child, get thrown in on top of everything else. Given the restraints of the form, Peck creates a solid compression of Orwell’s life, all while Orwell’s own words narrate the story, as spoken by Homeland‘s Damian Lewis.
Yet Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5’s true power comes in how Peck compares the writing of Orwell to the state of our world now and in the recent past. Peck beautifully melds Orwell’s ideas with haunting imagery that shows how these stories are slowly coming true. The idea of objective truth becoming a thing of the past (a place where 2 + 2 can actually equal 5) permeates much of this story, as we see examples of the government trying to shift the reality of what people can clearly see. As Orwell once wrote, it does truly feel like we’re living in a time when “history is to be created, not learned.”
Even before Peck begins introducing examples from the present, it’s hard not to hear Orwell’s writings and not think of the events of the world. It’s especially troubling to hear Orwell talking nearly a century ago and seeing exactly what he’s talking about happening in recent news clips. Peck is far-reaching in what Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 covers, from the way media conglomerates create the news we receive, the banning of books, the way the rich can fly rockets to space while people on earth suffer and starve, and how the truth is something that can be easily swayed. Peck uses Lewis’s narration over footage from January 6th, the war in Ukraine, WWII reels, and more, all to create a nightmarish reminder that we’ve been spiraling for quite some time with no sign of slowing down.
‘Orwell: 2+2=5’ Is Packed With Information, but Might be a Bit Too Overstuffed for Its Own Good
Considering how much information Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 is attempting to get to its audience, this is a phenomenally well-edited piece of work. Peck and editor Alexandra Strauss have a lot to convey, and the way they shift between ideas is quite impressive. It might not always be the most cohesive of narratives that Peck is compressing, but it’s effective nonetheless. In addition to news footage and glimpses of Orwell’s life, Peck and Strauss also make use of footage from movies and TV to voice these ideas. There are plenty of clips from 1984 adaptations, including the film versions released in 1956, and fittingly, 1984, as well as footage from Orwell’s other major work, Animal Farm. But Peck goes beyond Orwell adaptations, including clips of everything from Ken Loach films and The Passion of Joan of Arc to M3GAN and Notting Hill.
Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 is impactful for those who have recognized this degradation of our society, but this absolutely feels like Peck is primarily talking to those who need to be shown this evidence as a warning for where we are headed. Because of that, Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 does feel essential in speaking to a larger audience who might not realize just how despotic our world has become, and giving them the evidence to prove that point. For some, Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 is going to be simply preaching to the choir, but to others, this could be a spine-chilling — and eye-opening — document.
Peck and Strauss also have decidedly chosen to take on huge topics, as well as attempt to create a biography of one of the 20th century’s most important writers. It’s hard not to compare this to their work on I Am Not Your Negro, however, that felt like a more direct throughline. Comparing the works of James Baldwin to the experience of being Black in the United States was a cleaner comparison to make. Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 is trying to tackle so much more information and do so effectively, and for the most part, it finds a good balance. Yet it can also sometimes feel a bit unfocused because of how much Peck clearly wants to discuss in relation to the work of Orwell, shifting back and forth from the use of AI to the way billionaires essentially own the world’s wealth. Considering how much Peck wants to put into this film, Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 manages these topics well, but it’s certainly stuffed, maybe a bit too full. Especially considering this takes on an episodic structure, it’s not hard to see this being even more powerful as a miniseries that could dive a bit deeper into these comparisons.
It’s entirely possible you won’t see a scarier movie this year than Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5. As we follow where the events of 1984 lead the novel’s main character, Winston Smith, it’s impossible not to see just how uncomfortably close our own world is to the type of oppression and hiding of the truth that looms over Orwell’s world. Peck’s documentary might be a bit too stuffed to completely give some of these ideas the focus they deserve, but what he does achieve with his latest film is craft a warning sign for all of us: the world needs to change — and soon — or things could somehow get even more Orwellian.
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