Prime Video movie of the day: The Report is a shocking political thriller

Adam Driver sitting at a desk surrounded by papers in The Report

(Image credit: Prime Video)

Movie of the day

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Adam Driver is known for many big roles like Kylo Ren in Star Wars or as a stage director going through a difficult divorce in Marriage Story, but his role in The Report might be one of his most intense performances yet.

Political thrillers aren't for everyone, so Driver's star power might be a good selling point here, as it is worth watching the movie for his performance alone. The film is also highly rated, earning a place in our best Prime Video movies list. Here, he plays former United States Senate investigator Daniel J. Jones, whose most notable work on the CIA Torture report formed the inspiration for this gripping movie.

Throughout the movie, Daniel leads a review of six million pages of CIA materials related to their use of enhanced interrogation techniques, which was a program of systematic torture carried out in locations such as Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Bucharest. The movie uncovers some dark truths about what happened, depicting what was found in this report.

A dark chapter in American history

With an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes, most critics are in agreement about The Report, many praising it for the "cold" way it was filmed, as well as Adam Driver's "commanding" performance in the leading role.

The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey said: "Director Scott Z Burns captures the events in a cold, rigorously factual, and largely dispassionate manner. But that's the point."

Anthony Lane at the New Yorker added: "The film, written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, takes its cue from the stern dedication of its hero; the result feels pressurized, disheartening, and fraught."

While Variety described the movie as: "A large-scale saga of corruption, justice, and overwhelming relevance that's at once gripping and eye-opening, even if you're the sort of news junkie who thinks they already know the story."

The Report is well worth your time if you want to tick off another Adam Driver movie or to learn more about this controversial political period. Whatever your reasons, make sure you catch it while it's available on Prime Video.

Lucy is a long-time movie and television lover who is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. She has written several reviews in her time, starting with a small self-ran blog called Lucy Goes to Hollywood before moving onto bigger websites such as What's on TV and What to Watch, with TechRadar being her most recent venture. Her interests primarily lie within horror and thriller, loving nothing more than a chilling story that keeps her thinking moments after the credits have rolled. Many of these creepy tales can be found on the streaming services she covers regularly.

When she’s not scaring herself half to death with the various shows and movies she watches, she likes to unwind by playing video games on Easy Mode and has no shame in admitting she’s terrible at them. She also quotes The Simpsons religiously and has a Blinky the Fish tattoo, solidifying her position as a complete nerd.