Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration took place on a Friday afternoon. If it had been a TV special, it would have been an all-time ratings disaster. The National Mall — where people traditionally gather to witness the swearing in — was a ghost town. Instead, far more people turned out in Washington’s streets to protest the new administration rather than to celebrate.

By Saturday, the new administration had sent out its press secretary to address the nation armed with a set of “alternative facts.” His first briefing claimed that Donald Trump drew “the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.”

These statements were not true by any metric. The inauguration was broadcast live, with footage clearly showing the National Mall looking like an abandoned parking lot. It’s absurd that anyone would consider lying about something as obvious (and petty) as a crowd size, especially a newly minted administration setting the tone for its tenure. Yet for the Trump team, presenting a bold-faced lie in the face of an obvious truth is, in fact, a feature and not a bug. 

Orwell: 2+2=5, the latest documentary from Raoul Peck, examines how the road to authoritarianism is paved with lies and obfuscation. Peck walks viewers through recent history, presenting the mechanisms of political tyranny and drawing parallels to today’s fractured political landscape. The film makes it clear that lying about something as trivial as crowd sizes can be tactical, part of a broader effort to erode critical thought.

Orwell: 2+2=5 retraces the life and career of acclaimed author Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell. Narrated by Damian Lewis, the film chronicles the author’s short life (he died at 46) and how his formative experiences with colonialism informed the left-wing, anti-totalitarian worldview that informed his writing.

While the doc delves into pivotal points in Orwell’s life, it isn’t a standard biography. It’s less about documenting the arc of his years than about tracing how he honed his perspective. Peck is most interested in exploring how the author managed to develop such prescient insight into class structures, political ambition, and the insidious mechanisms that lead to the death of democracy.

Peck weaves together footage from Animal Farm and 1984 adaptations to accentuate Orwell’s arguments. The film also incorporates news and documentary footage that highlight real-world examples of the surveillance state and authoritarian themes central to his work. Much of this historical footage draws direct parallels to the rise of autocratic movements gaining traction around the globe in 2025.

I always look forward to experiencing a new Raoul Peck film, and afterwards, without fail, I walk away feeling like I’ve been run through the emotional wringer. His work highlights the strength and beauty found in acts of defiance in the face of systemic oppression. But to reach that point, his films dig into the root of human suffering — how cultures revel in cruelty and subjugate the ‘other’.

Like the rest of Peck’s powerful filmography, Orwell: 2+2=5 is both illuminating and bleak. The doc features harrowing footage from the conflicts in Myanmar, Ukraine, and Gaza. Its unflinching war-zone imagery forces viewers to confront what’s at stake when power is handed to leaders with no accountability. The film positions figures like Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin as walking embodiments of all Orwell warned against.

Orwell: 2+2=5 shook me harder than any of Peck’s prior work because it hits so close to home right now. It speaks directly to the events dominating today’s headlines — chiefly, how democracies are backsliding into autocracy while political leaders thrive on strongman tactics.

This film cuts so deep because it gets to the heart of an unflattering truth. It’s a concept Orwell discussed nearly 100 years ago that still holds true: people are hackable. We crave safety and comfort and will often accept a sugar-coated lie over a bitter truth. Orwell recognized how aspiring dictators exploit this frailty, twisting language to control citizens and corrupt institutions.

Orwell: 2+2=5 delivers a scorching commentary on the nature of societies in decline. It presents a clear-eyed assessment of the allure of totalitarian regimes and how they prey on ignorance, apathy, and tribalism. Prophetic and unsettling, the film warns us that tyranny doesn’t arrive cloaked in darkness — it grows in daylight while we look the other way.

Orwell: 2+2=5 screened as part of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It opens in limited release on October 10.

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