Most critics find Brexit: The Uncivil War an engaging, brisk political drama, with praise clustering around Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Dominic Cummings. The campaign strategist emerges as a compelling, sometimes ambiguous figure, and several reviews admire how the film makes campaign tactics absorbing. James Graham’s clear, fast-moving writing earns approval, while the attention to data manipulation, misinformation and social media targeting gives the drama much of its force.
The spread is wide, however, and the reservations concern how much the film explains beneath that busy surface. Even favourable reviews note limited scope and cheap dramatic touches. Variety praises Cumberbatch but finds too many explanations competing for attention; Consequence values the data-mining material while questioning the treatment of racism and xenophobia. The Guardian offers the sharpest dissent, arguing that the film is irresponsible in its handling of misinformation and gives Cummings prominence at the expense of other characters and important issues.