Citizenfour, directed by Laura Poitras

2014’s Academy Award-winning documentary Citizenfour, directed by Laura Poitras, follows Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald as they travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor who is about to expose the scope of the American national security surveillance state.

From the opening moments, Citizenfour feels dystopic, mysterious, and dark. It feels conspiratorial in tone, which is often the very atmosphere used to dismiss the credibility of stories like this. But that mood is not manufactured for drama. It reflects the very real breach of justice and abuse of power by American government agencies that Snowden is revealing and the risk he is taking by doing so.

Snowden gives us our first real look at the level of surveillance that has now become normalized. The film documents the birth of what we now call "self policing" or censoring yourself for fear of ending up “on a list,” and the growing awareness that metadata paints a detailed picture of who you are, without actually knowing who you are or having more justification for tracking you.

The film also captures the birthplace of American paranoia in the realization that we're all being watched by Big Brother. That paranoia over the past decade has put conspiracy culture on steroids. When people know they are being watched, their behavior changes. Speech changes. Thought changes. That may be one of the most lasting impacts of what Snowden revealed.

Amazing to me is the lack of public revolt. There are hearings. There is outrage for a moment. Then the world moves on. For something this massive, the response feels incredibly small.

There is also a powerful story of journalism here. Real investigative journalism. The kind we rarely see anymore. The Guardian is visibly scared of going up against the U.S. security state. Journalists are risking their own freedoms to publish this information. The enormous power and influence of global governments become impossible to ignore.

What makes Snowden’s story so heavy is what he gives up. He sacrifices his entire world for what he believes is right. His life is effectively destroyed. He cannot return to the United States, visit his family freely, or fully experience his own culture. The message to future whistleblowers is painfully clear. Speak out and lose everything.

So what protection do we actually have? That question hangs over the entire film and goes unanswered.

I am a fan of Snowden. Team USA is only great if it remains true to its ideals. Citizenfour is not just a portrait of a whistleblower. It is a mirror held up to a country that must decide whether security is worth the cost of freedom, or will it continue to be lulled to sleep by compliance and complacency.