Brexit

[Cumberbatch's] fussy performance comes with some grating Sherlockian tics: voice-over, imaginary sequences, the recurring sound of British earth moaning. But this fascinating first-draft-of-history thriller captures the tragic complexity, techno-paranoia and Orwellian absurdity of the Brexit vote. [18 Jan 2019, p.50]

It’s a crisp political-messaging procedural, outlining a triumph of data over knowledge and tribal fear over human reason. ... Brexit is nicely ambiguous as to whether Cummings is a misguided genius or simply a talented opportunist, and Cumberbatch is excellent at conveying the lonely monomania of a man stubbornly devoted to principles that only he recognizes.

Almost inappropriately entertaining. ... [James] Graham stays defiantly nonpartisan throughout, even if he heightens the three most bombastic media presences of the pro-Brexit debate--the politicians Nigel Farage (Paul Ryan) and Boris Johnson (Richard Goulding), and the businessman and political donor Arron Banks (Lee Boardman)--into caricatures, a Greek chorus of squirm-inducing comic relief.

Graham’s script captures the nuances of Britain’s roiling identity crisis with deft insight, and the whole thing is packaged in such an enjoyably crowd-pleasing way that its flaws linger without dragging the proceedings down. It’s reductive and ham-fisted in its direction, sure, but still makes for a breezily engaging tale.

What Brexit deftly captures is how Cummings sensed a growing majority of disappointment in his own country before the opposition knew how to bring those people back to their side. ... There are times when the McKay-esque style works against Brexit, making it feel flashier than it needed to be. I found Brexit most interesting in its calmer beats.

It’s a brisk, superficial, but smart film that essentially reminds us--repeatedly--of the potential outcomes in all the information we willingly provide about ourselves online.

Brexit’s problem isn’t that it is too flip about recent history. It’s that it takes every possible branch of history seriously, and doesn’t do the work of discerning which ones matter more.