Award-winning filmmaker Raoul Peck brings us Orwell: 2+2=5, a gripping documentary exploring the life, legacy, and modern relevance of George Orwell—narrated by Damian Lewis. The film recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and now features an official trailer announcing an October 3 release in select theaters, distributed by Neon.
Trailer Highlights & Themes
Narrative Visual Blend: The newly released trailer juxtaposes Orwell’s words—like “Who controls the past controls the future…”—with vivid contemporary visuals steeped in surveillance, propaganda, and societal fracture.
Urgent Contemporary Relevance: The trailer signals the documentary’s urgent tone—equating language manipulation today to Orwell’s warnings in 1984, and positioning the film as “the boldest documentary anyone could make right now.”
About the Film
Orwell: 2+2=5 delves into George Orwell’s final years and his seminal work 1984, spotlighting concepts like Newspeak, doublethink, and Big Brother, and connecting them to today’s authoritarian trends and media manipulation.
Directed and produced by Raoul Peck, the film features Damian Lewis as Orwell, with music by Alexeï Aïgui and editing by Alexandra Strauss. Production companies include Velvet Film, Jigsaw Productions, Anonymous Content, Closer Media, Participant, and Universal Pictures Content Group.
The film made its world debut in the Cannes Premiere section at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and was also featured at the Norwegian International Film Festival.
Orwell: 2+2=5 is slated for a limited theatrical release on October 3, 2025, with distribution handled by Neon in the U.S.
