The Fifth Estate
Movie · Drama · Thriller

Triggering our age of high-stakes secrecy, explosive news leaks and the trafficking of classified information, WikiLeaks forever changed the game. Now, in a dramatic thriller based on real events, “The Fifth Estate” reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization. The story begins as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) team up to become underground watchdogs of the privileged and powerful. On a shoestring, they create a platform that allows whistleblowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes. Soon, they are breaking more hard news than the world’s most legendary media organizations combined. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society—and what are the costs of exposing them?

2013 · 2h 8m
  • 35%
  • 15+
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Dan Stevens
Director Bill Condon

Trailers

  • The Fifth Estate
    The Fifth Estate
    Drama

Related

  • Snowden
  • Fair Game
  • Kill the Messenger
  • Official Secrets
  • The Post
  • All the President's Men
  • The Whistleblower
  • Good Night, and Good Luck.
  • The Ghost Writer

Cast & Crew

  • Benedict Cumberbatch
    Julian Assange
  • Daniel Brühl
    Daniel Berg
  • Dan Stevens
    Ian Katz
  • Alicia Vikander
    Anke Domscheit
  • Carice van Houten
    Birgitta Jonsdottir
  • Anthony Mackie
    Sam Coulson
  • Stanley Tucci
    James Boswell
  • Laura Linney
    Sarah Shaw
  • Peter Capaldi
    Alan Rusbridger
  • David Thewlis
    Nick Davies
  • Moritz Bleibtreu
    Actor

About

The Fifth Estate

Drama

Triggering our age of high-stakes secrecy, explosive news leaks and the trafficking of classified information, WikiLeaks forever changed the game. Now, in a dramatic thriller based on real events, “The Fifth Estate” reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization. The story begins as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) team up to become underground watchdogs of the privileged and powerful. On a shoestring, they create a platform that allows whistleblowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes. Soon, they are breaking more hard news than the world’s most legendary media organizations combined. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society—and what are the costs of exposing them?

15+

COMMON SENSE

Confusing WikiLeaks docudrama mostly avoids iffy content.

35%

TOMATOMETER
Average 5.3
Reviews 176
Fresh 62
Rotten 114

Information

Studio
Anonymous Content
Released
2013
Run Time
2 hr 8 min
Rated
R for language and some violence
Regions of Origin
United States, India
© 2013 DREAMWORKS II DISTRIBUTION CO., LLC.

Languages

Original Audio
English, English (United Kingdom)
Audio

English (United States) (AD, AAC, ⁨Dolby 5.1⁩), French (Canada) (AAC), Spanish (Latin America) (AAC)

Subtitles

English (CC), Cantonese, Traditional , Chinese, Traditional , French (Canada) , Indonesian , Malay (Malaysia) , Portuguese (Brazil) , Russian , Spanish (Latin America) , Thai

Accessibility

Closed captions (CC) refer to subtitles in the available language with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.
Audio descriptions (AD) refer to a narration track describing what is happening on screen, to provide context for those who are blind or have low vision.
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
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  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
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  • Israel
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  • Mozambique
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