The film follows the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia's effort to control international dissent.[3][4] Central to the documentary is the story of the Saudi activist and video blogger, Omar Abdulaziz.[5]
According to Bryan Fogel, the movie's aim is to look "deeply into Khashoggi's murder and the ramifications of it."[6] While a CIA report released by the Biden administration implicated Saudi crown princeMohammed bin Salman in the death of Khashoggi,[7] Fogel believes the prince will never face an Interpol arrest warrant or formal investigation considering the vast amount of wealth he owns.[8]
The film struggled to find a distributor for eight months and was not able to run on a large streaming platform like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. It is widely believed this was due to those platforms' fear of offending the Saudi Arabian government and possibly losing subscribers.[12][13]
Fogel showed disappointment at The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos’ decision to acquire UAE e-commerce site Souq.com shortly after he refused to release The Dissident on Amazon Prime Video.[14]
Reception
VOD sales
In its first weekend of home release, the film was the third-most rented title at the iTunes Store and eighth on Apple TV.[15][16]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 93 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Dissident offers little catharsis in its unflinching look at a grisly murder—and gives no quarter in its forceful reminder of the fragility of free speech."[17] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[18]
Jordan Hoffman of Screen International gave the film a positive review, writing: "The Dissident holds few new revelations but presents its case with enough infuriating evidence and storytelling power to make it worthwhile.[19] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Fogel's investigation is vigorous, deep and comprehensive."[20]Owen Gleiberman, reviewing the film in Variety, called it "an eye-opening thriller brew of corruption, cover-up, and real-world courage."[21]
Joseph Fahima of Middle East Eye gave the documentary a negative review, qualifying it as an "over-polished piece, which intentionally omits the less flattering aspects of [Khashoggi] story to deliver a more marketable product" and criticizing that the "theatrical tone prioritises atmosphere, emotional engagement, and mundane cinematic flourishes over well-rounded truth".[22]
Alleged manipulation
The filmmakers told The Washington Post that they believed trolls operating on behalf of the Saudi government created a false sense of popular disapproval of the film by flooding the review sites Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.[23] Tiyson Reynolds from Rotten Tomatoes said "it appears that there have been deliberate attempts to manipulate the movie's audience score".[24]
