Forgotten Political Thriller 'The Report' Quietly Becomes One of Amazon's Best

The 2019 drama exploring the CIA's use of torture during the War on Terror has found new life on Prime Video.

Apr. 17, 2026 at 9:06pm

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An abstract close-up photograph of shattered glass reflecting a faint red glow, conveying the obscured and compromised truths at the heart of the film's exploration of the U.S. torture program.The forgotten political thriller 'The Report' shines a light on the hidden horrors of the War on Terror.NYC Today

Scott Z. Burns's 2019 political drama The Report, starring Adam Driver as Senate staffer Daniel Jones, used the lens of an investigative report to dramatize the CIA's use of torture during the War on Terror. The movie, produced by Steven Soderbergh, tells the story of Jones' decade-long work to uncover the truth about the 'enhanced interrogation techniques' employed by the agency after 9/11.

Why it matters

The Report is one of the few mainstream American films to really examine the darkest aspects of the country's post-9/11 activities, dealing with the obscuring of facts and the evasion of accountability. The movie's clear-eyed approach to the nature of war in the 21st century has allowed it to age well, even as it struggled to find an audience in theaters.

The details

The Report follows Jones as he learns the extent of the CIA's torture program, with jarring flashbacks depicting the 'enhanced interrogation techniques' used on detainees like Abu Zubaydah. The movie balances real-life characters like Senator Dianne Feinstein and CIA Director John Brennan with composite figures, creating a dizzying sense of how widespread the torture infrastructure was and the desire of those in power to distance themselves from it. As Jones digs deeper, he faces pushback from men like Denis McDonough and Brennan, who try to dissuade him from revealing the truth.

  • The Report was released in 2019.
  • The movie explores Jones' decade-long investigation into the CIA's torture program.

The players

Daniel Jones

A Senate staffer who leads the investigation into the CIA's use of torture during the War on Terror.

Senator Dianne Feinstein

Jones' boss, who oversees the investigation.

Denis McDonough

A company man who tries to dissuade Jones from revealing the truth about the torture program.

John Brennan

The CIA Director who also attempts to stop Jones' investigation.

James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen

The intelligence psychologists tasked with developing the CIA's 'enhanced interrogation techniques'.

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What they’re saying

“The Report is most compelling in its first act, in which staffer Daniel Jones learns the extent of the CIA's torture program (euphemistically dubbed 'enhanced interrogation techniques,' or EITs) and quick, jarring flashbacks give viewers brief glimpses of the torture program.”

— Anthony Crislip, Author

“The movie depicts torture with a clinical eye, dramatizing a laundry list of horrific actions: waterboarding, sleep deprivation, pushing men against walls, creating a sense of 'learned helplessness'.”

— Anthony Crislip, Author

What’s next

The Report is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, where it has found a new audience and critical acclaim despite its initial box office struggles.

The takeaway

The Report's clear-eyed examination of the CIA's torture program and the lengths taken to obscure the truth serves as a powerful indictment of the War on Terror's darkest excesses, cementing its status as an essential political thriller for the 21st century.