--- title: "Official Secrets: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/official-secrets/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/official-secrets" critics_score: 64 critics_reviews: 23 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Official Secrets (2019): what the critics said Critics' score 64 from 23 reviews: 14 positive, 6 mixed, 3 negative. ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 August 2019. A crackling political thriller that effectively dramatizes a principled stand against the Iraq War with brisk pacing and strong performances. It singles out Keira Knightley's portrayal of a moral exemplar for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-08-27/official-secrets-review-keira-knightley) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 13 October 2019. Hood’s follow-up to Eye in the Sky is a pacy, palm-clammying mix of tense spy thriller and journo procedural that examines moral corruption at the highest level without restoring trust in the powers that be. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/official-secrets) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 29 August 2019. The Brits do low-key, paranoid procedural dramas like this one well, with a pervading chill and no flash. Hood frames the story to suggest constant surveillance, and the crispness cuts like a knife while highlighting a conscience in torment. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/official-secrets-movie-review.html) ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2019. Director Gavin Hood cranks the tension in this real-life chronicle of courage about Katharine Gun's leak. The film serves as a valuable dark reminder of how the journey to the present political mood accelerated wildly in 2003. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/0ddd0492-f020-11e9-ad1e-4367d8281195) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2019. Festival review. A sturdy, entertaining political thriller that pushes all the right buttons, with Knightley persuasive as the whistleblower Gun and Hood mixing thrills with political commentary effectively despite familiar journalistic drama tropes. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/official-secrets-sundance-review/5136275.article) ## Sight and Sound — Matthew Taylor Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 October 2019. The film is a solid, spiralling spy procedural elevated by Knightley’s ascetic, intensely focused performance as Katharine Gun, which serves as its true north amid the procedural threads and state apparatus chill. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/official-secrets-review-keira-knightley-shoulders-true-life-iraq-war-whistleblowing-thriller) ## The AV Club — Mike D'Angelo Rating B-. 27 August 2019. The film recounts Gun’s story in a dry, procedural synopsis that rarely deviates from the standard whistleblower template and settles for didactic point-scoring. It shines a light on a nearly forgotten Iraq War whistleblower whose conscience stands as a pointed reminder. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/official-secrets-shines-a-light-on-a-nearly-forgotten-i-1837611151) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 October 2019. Knightley gives a focused, plausible and sympathetic performance as the whistleblower Katharine Gun in this shrewd and relevant spy drama. The film highlights the British establishment's tendency to spite under pressure and the importance of young, vulnerable people speaking out against government actions. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/18/official-secrets-review-keira-knightley-whistleblower) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2019. Festival review. Hood and his cast deliver a straightforward, solidly old-fashioned slice of real-life espionage and intrigue that gets the job done in engrossing, clear-eyed fashion even if it lacks much stylistic verve. The film is a dutiful reminder of a shameful episode in recent history. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/official-secrets-sundance-2019-1180558/) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★☆. 17 October 2019. The film opts for unadorned journalistic clarity over cinematic clichés in telling the true story of Katharine Gun. Knightley delivers a power-player performance that holds the show together with minimalism and emotional depth. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/official-secrets-review-tell-you-a-secret-keira-knightley-is-terrific-0wt6ztgvs) ## Variety — Amy Nicholson Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2019. Festival review. A staid but honorable and ennobling account of a whistleblower's failed attempt to avert the Iraq War. It singles out the genteel institutional critique and the defense lawyer's courtroom strategy for attention. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/official-secrets-review-1203121969/) ## Empire — Ian Freer Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 14 October 2019. The film is an entertaining slice of recent history celebrating an unsung British hero, anchored by a strong Keira Knightley performance, but let down by a simplistic take on its complex subject matter. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/official-secrets/) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 28 August 2019. The film is a coherent but uneven retelling of Katharine Gun's whistleblowing that struggles to generate excitement or depth. It singles out the office printer scene and journalistic portrayals for note while criticizing flat suspense and underdeveloped characters. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/movies/official-secrets-review.html) ## Evening Standard — David Sexton Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 18 October 2019. The story is important with good casting, but the film lacks action, visual excitement and suspense, remaining too diligently true to life and earnest to take off as drama. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/official-secrets-film-review-no-drama-a4264836.html) ## IndieWire — Jude Dry Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2019. Knightley risks treason in a sober real-life Iraq War drama, but Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes, and Matthew Goode fill out this inert drama about a whistleblower who leaked a top secret NSA memo. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/official-secrets-review-keira-knightley-1202169997/) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 19 August 2019. Hood’s film is a muckraking thriller that revels in wonderfully lived-in details as well as generic biopic platitudes and wrings suspense out of the parsing of evidence. It is ambitious but prone to melodrama that reduces the protagonist to a supporting character in her own story. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-official-secrets-is-an-ambitious-muckraking-thriller-prone-to-melodrama/) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 August 2019. The film is a pulse-pounding true drama and the most gripping thriller of 2019, with Hood turning the story into a white-knuckle thriller. It singles out Keira Knightley's never-better performance as the whistleblower with a conscience. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/video/official-secrets-review-keira-knightley-whistleblower-movie/) ## Eye for Film — Jeremy Mathews Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 7 February 2019. Festival review. The critic highlights the film's refreshing straight-forwardness and focus on Katharine Gun's decision and its consequences, praising Knightley's quiet conviction and the inspirational portrayal of people working together for the right thing. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/official-secrets-2019-film-review-by-jeremy-mathews) ## Den of Geek — Caroline Preece Rating 3 out of 5. 15 October 2019. The critic finds it a solid but muted retelling of the whistleblower story, praising Keira Knightley's captivating performance as Katharine Gun but noting the film doesn't quite match her intensity, excelling more in its newsroom drama sections. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/official-secrets-review-muted-spy-story-boasts-great-keira-knightley-turn/) ## Film Stories — Katie Smith-Wong Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 18 October 2019. The critic praises Keira Knightley's mature and compelling performance as Katharine Gun but criticizes the film's uneven tone and lack of punch, calling it a safe retelling of the scandal. [Read the review](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/official-secrets-review-keira-knightley-stars-in-telling-of-true-story/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating C. 29 January 2019. Festival review. The critic finds the film a dry, unremarkable chronicle that fails to capture emotional depth or focus on the protagonist's story effectively. They praise the subject's courage but criticize the direction for making it inert and Wikipedia-like. [Read the review](https://collider.com/official-secrets-review/) ## The Playlist — Jordan Ruimy Rating C-. 31 January 2019. Festival review. The critic finds the film pedestrian and uninspired with dull direction that fails to focus on the heroine or convey impact, despite a strong performance from Knightley, resulting in a failed attempt at the story. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/official-secrets-keira-knightey-review-20190131/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 27 August 2019. The film is high-minded and sturdy but never as galvanizing as it should be, serving as an efficiently told primer on ordinary bravery. It singles out the fascinating second-half legal peril and defense machinations for praise amid mixed results for the journalism and thriller elements. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/official-secrets-film-review-keira-knightley-matt-smith/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/official-secrets.md