Tense True Transcripts Provide The Basis For ‘Reality,’ Film About NSA Whistleblower

“I was what like, ‘what is this document?’ And then I read it and I was on the edge of my seat.”

This is Tina Satter, talking about how she first became aware of what happened to Reality Winner, the subject of the writer/director’s new film.

When Winner rolled up to her house after running errands on June 3, 2017, the 25-year-old was greeted by two FBI agents.

Winner, an Air Force veteran and yoga instructor, spent the next two hours being questioned about her work as an intelligence contractor, and, specifically, whether she leaked a classified document about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.

With all dialogue taken from the FBI transcript, Max’s new film Reality tells the story of exactly what transpired inside Winner’s home that afternoon.

The movie stars Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, The White Lotus) as Reality, Josh Hamilton (Eight Grade, The Walking Dead) as Special Agent Garrick and Marchánt Davis (The Day Shall Come, Tuscaloosa) as Special Agent Taylor.

Satter explains how she came to want to tell Winner’s story, saying, “Reality kind of came into the U.S news cycle in June of 2017, and I like many, many people didn’t pay a ton of attention to her throughout that summer. I do remember seeing a mug shot of this blonde woman and being confused by the name, like thinking it was about reality TV. And if you would’ve asked me in like August 2017, ‘what did this young woman do?’ I couldn’t have told you. I think I knew it was vaguely in sort of the security space.”

She says that later that year, she was drawn into an article that explained more in-depth who Winner was and what went on that afternoon.

A link in that piece took her to the actual transcript from the meeting with the FBI agents.

Upon reading it, Satter says, “I was really mesmerized by that document and it felt like a whole world and then I was immediately captured by like young girl in jean shorts who is at the center of this, going head-to-head with these armed men. I was like, this is really fascinating.’”

Immediately, Satter realized, “I think this is a play and a movie. I could see it.”

She says that the transcript read, ‘like a thriller.’

With a background in playwriting, Satter set about putting together a stage version, which played off-Broadway under the title Is This a Room.

What’s unique about both the play and the film is that Satter and her team didn’t deviate from the transcript — what the actors say is exactly the dialogue and cadence of their real-life counterparts.

This makes for both some unique banter about coffee, pets, and CrossFit, and for plenty of rising tension as the agents escalate their questions to pull the truth out of Winner.

To portray the proper amount of escalating pressure in just the right way, Satter says that during the 16-day shoot everything was filmed in chronological order. “This woman is nervous and emotional through the whole thing, but we [had] to detonate [all of that] at the right time.”

As for Winner’s involvement in the projects, she wasn’t available when Satter was working on the play, but she was able to chat via Zoom prior to the film.

Satter says that Winner shared more details of that day, such as, “she is the one who told me that the FBI agents all rolled up wearing these bright colored golf shirts.”

She adds, “It was so wild to meet [Reality] on that first zoom because I was so close to this version of her in her own words [from the transcript] that I had spent, at that point, several years, working on.”

The collaboration with Winner has led Satter to feel that, “I just continue to have more respect for who this person is, let alone the action she took and how she’s dealt with what has happened after she took that action.”

When Satter asked Winner if she’d watch the finished film, Satter says that Winner said, “I don’t need to rewatch that day of my life.”

But Satter is clear that Winner has been, ‘incredibly, incredibly supportive of the project.’

“It’s very meaningful to her to be heard in her own words. [Her case] never went to trial because she took a plea deal, [so] it feels for her a bit validating that people can see her words,” says Satter.

‘Reality’ is currently available for streaming on Max.