WINNER Trailer (2024) Kathryn Newton, Emilia Jones

WINNER Trailer (2024) Kathryn Newton, Emilia Jones

WINNER Trailer (2024) Kathryn Newton, Emilia Jones, Zach Galifianakis
© 2024 - Vertical

"Reality Winner is just like us." She is? Vertical has revealed an official trailer for a film called Winner, yet another film about the American whistleblower Reality Winner. This premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will be out on VOD to watch this September. There were two other films about the same person recently: Reality starring Sydney Sweeney, and the feature doc Reality Winner. Now we have Winner to watch. What's next, two more films called R. Winner and Reality W.? Yes we've heard her story, what's next. Reality Winner, a brilliant, sarcastic young misfit from Texas with a relentless need for helping others, finds her morals challenged working as an NSA contractor, ultimately leaking Russia's hacking campaign of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Emilia Jones (from CODA) stars as Reality, with Connie Britton, Danny Ramirez, Kathryn Newton, and Zach Galifianakis in the cast. This seems to look like a cheap, cheesy made-for-TV movie that would air as a Saturday Night Special. Oh well, it happens.

Here's the official trailer for Susanna Fogel's film Winner, direct from Vertical's YouTube:

Winner Film Trailer

Based on a true story, Reality Winner (Emilia Jones) is a brilliant young misfit from a Texas border town who loves her pink gun almost as much as helping others. After teaching herself Arabic in high school so she can be of service in the Middle East, she is recruited by the Air Force but quickly becomes disillusioned when she finds her morals challenged. After transitioning to a money gig as an NSA contractor, Reality stumbles upon government secrets regarding Russia's election hacking during the 2016 Presidential campaign. Does she expose the truth or keep quiet? Ultimately, she decides to leak the truth leading to her trial and historic sentencing for espionage. Winner is directed by American filmmaker Susanna Fogel, director of the films Life Partners, The Spy Who Dumped Me, and Cat Person previously, plus episodes of the series "Utopia", "The Flight Attendant", and "A Small Light". The screenplay is written by Kerry Howley. Produced by Susanna Fogel, Scott Budnick, Julie Goldstein, Amanda Phillips, Shivani Rawat, Ameet Shukla. The film initially premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Vertical will debut Fogel's Winner film in select US theaters + on VOD starting September 13th, 2024 this fall. Anyone interested?
Emilia Jones is taking on the life story of Reality Winner.

On Aug. 29, Vertical debuted the trailer for Winner exclusively with PEOPLE. The film stars Jones (CODA) as Winner, the former National Security Agency contractor who spent more than four years in jail for leaking classified documents to news media.

The trailer showcases Reality's childhood and upbringing in Texas and covers her time with the U.S. Air Force before she began working for the NSA.

Winner also covers her time with the NSA and the aftermath of her decision to mail classified documents concerning Russian government efforts to infiltrate U.S. voting systems before the 2016 presidential election to The Intercept.

Reality Winner Gives First Interview Since Espionage Conviction: 'I Am Not a Traitor'
Emilia Jones in Winner
Emilia Jones in Winner. Courtesy of Vertical
A synopsis teases, "Reality Winner is a brilliant young misfit from a Texas border town who loves her pink gun almost as much as helping others."

After transitioning from military work to a contract job with the National Security Agency, Winner "stumbles upon government secrets regarding Russia's election hacking during the 2016 Presidential campaign," adds the synopsis. "Does she expose the truth or keep quiet?"

Winner also stars Connie Britton, Danny Ramirez, Kathryn Newton and Zach Galifianakis.

Emilia Jones in Winner
Emilia Jones in "Winner". Courtesy of Vertical
Jones, 22, teams up with director Susanna Fogel after the pair collaborated on 2023's Cat Person. The new movie is based on the 2017 New York Magazine article "Who Is Reality Winner?"

The actress told IndieWire back in January she struck a genuine friendship with Winner while researching her role for the movie. “And I think that’s perfect, really, because that’s what we’re trying to do with this movie," she said. "We’re trying to humanize her and show people she’s so much more than just a name in a headline.”

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Emilia Jones in Winner
Emilia Jones in Winner. Courtesy of Vertical
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Jones is not the first person to portray Winner on screen: Sydney Sweeney previously played her in HBO's 2023 movie Reality, which was in part based on the transcript of the real-life Winner's actual conversation with FBI agents at her home on June 3, 2017.

Winner is in select theaters and on demand Sept. 13.
Vertical has dropped the trailer for Winner, a dark comedy biopic starring Emilia Jones as American whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner. It’s directed by Susanna Fogel who aims to give a new take on Reality Winner’s story. Winner is set to hit theaters on September 13, 2024.

“Reality Winner is a brilliant young misfit from a Texas border town who loves her pink gun almost as much as helping others. After teaching herself Arabic in high school so she can be of service in the Middle East, Reality is recruited by the Air Force but quickly becomes disillusioned when she finds her morals challenged. After transitioning to a money gig as an NSA contractor, Reality stumbles upon government secrets regarding Russia’s election hacking during the 2016 Presidential campaign. Does she expose the truth or keep quiet? Ultimately, she decides to leak the truth leading to her trial and historic sentencing for espionage.”
Emilia Jones journeys from small-town Texas to the Air Force to federal prison in the new trailer for Winner. The blackly-comedic film is based on the life of real-life whistleblower Reality Winner. The film will premiere in select theaters and on VOD on September 13.

As the trailer opens, small-town Texas girl Reality Winner is as American as it gets - especially when she impulsively joins the US Air Force out of high school. Instead of being assigned to Afghanistan, however, she stays Stateside, analyzing the Taliban's communications. She eventually leaves the military and begins working for a civilian intelligence contractor - but when the chance to expose the truth about Russian interference in the 2016 election presents itself, she takes it. What happens next will not only upend Reality Winner's life, but raise questions that are still being asked nearly eight years later, as the trailer breezes through these events with confidence and glib humor. Winner also stars Connie Britton and Zach Galifianakis as Winner's parents, Kathryn Newton as her sister, and Danny Ramirez as Winner's boyfriend, Andre.

Isn't There Another Reality Winner Movie?

Winner is not to be confused with Reality, the Tina Satter film that takes a less-comedic look at Winner's life. It starred Sydney Sweeney as Reality Winner, and was released last year on HBO. Rather than the full biopic treatment Winner offers, Reality is largely focused on Winner's interrogation by FBI agents following her 2017 arrest, using the transcripts of that event to great effect. Collider's Ross Bonaime strongly preferred Reality to Winner; in his review of the latter, he found that its attempts at comedy fell flat, and that its expansion of Winner's early life did little to connect with her actions as an adult. However, he did commend the performances of Winner's supporting cast. Marco Vito Oddo praised Reality as a "thrilling exploration of the police system, never daring to reduce its characters to the simplistic parts they would play in news stories".

Winner is directed by Susanna Fogel; it is a reunion with Jones, who played the lead in Fogel's 2023 adaptation of the buzzy New Yorker short story Cat Person. The script was written by Kerry Howley, adapting her own New York feature article "Who Is Reality Winner?"

Winner Sundance Film Festival 2024 Film Image
Winner
Follows Winner (Jones), a brilliant young misfit from Texas who finds her morals challenged while serving in the U.S. Air Force and working as an NSA contractor.

Winner will be released in select theaters and video-on-demand September 13, 2024. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates, and watch the new trailer for Winner below.

Movie News
Trailers
Emilia Jones
Winner is a 2024 black comedy drama film directed by Susanna Fogel and written by Kerry Howley. The film stars Emilia Jones as Reality Winner. It also stars Connie Britton, Danny Ramirez, Kathryn Newton and Zach Galifianakis.

It had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024, and was released on September 13, 2024, by Vertical.

Synopsis
The film is based on the life of Reality Winner, who leaked an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[2]

Cast
Emilia Jones as Reality Winner
Annelise Pollmann as young Reality
Kathryn Newton as Brittany Winner
Averie Peters as young Brittany
Connie Britton as Billie Winner
Zach Galifianakis as Ron Winner
Danny Ramirez as Andre
Shannon Berry as KayLee Thompson
Production
Described as a darkly comedic biopic, Emilia Jones was confirmed to be portraying the whistle-blower Reality Winner from a script written by Kerry Howley based on her own 2017 New York magazine feature, "Who Is Reality Winner?," with Susanna Fogel also on board to direct.[3] It marks the second collaboration between Fogel and Jones following Cat Person.[4]

Casting
In October 2022 it was confirmed that principal photography had started with Connie Britton and Zach Galifianakis playing Winner’s parents and Kathryn Newton as her sister.[5] In May 2023 it was revealed Shannon Berry was part of the cast.[6]

Filming
Filming started around the areas in Winnipeg and elsewhere in Manitoba,[7][8] and was wrapped in November 21, 2022.

Release
The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024.[9] In May 2024, Vertical acquired distribution rights to the film.[10] It was released on September 13, 2024.[11]

Reception
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.10/10.[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[13]

See also
Reality (2023), another film based on Reality Winner.
Directed by Susanna Fogel
Screenplay by Kerry Howley
Based on "Who Is Reality Winner?"
by Kerry Howley
Produced by
Amanda Phillips
Susanna Fogel
Shivani Rawat
Julie Goldstein
Scott Budnick
Ameet Shukla
Starring
Emilia Jones
Connie Britton
Danny Ramirez
Kathryn Newton
Zach Galifianakis
Cinematography Steve Yedlin
Edited by Joseph Krings
Music by Heather McIntosh
Production
companies
Big Beach
ShivHans Pictures
1Community
Distributed by Vertical
Release dates
January 20, 2024 (Sundance)
September 13, 2024 (United States)
Running time 103 minutes[1]
Countries
Canada
United States
Language English
At this point there have been multiple films about whistleblower Reality Winner, including last year’s Reality with Sydney Sweeney. But what the world really needs is a dark comedy take, something to cleanse the palate from the strict transcriptions and stiff documentaries. And that’s where Winner comes in. CODA breakout Emilia Jones stars as Reality Winner in the film that reunites her with Cat Person director Susanna Fogel.

Premiering earlier this year at Sundance (Cortland’s review here), Winner tells the story we already know but in a comedic, theatrical light. Winner, an Air Force veteran and translator, leaked intelligence proving Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. She was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, the longest sentence ever for such an offense.

Now imagine that, only funny.

Connie Britton, Danny Ramirez, Kathryn Newton, and Zach Galifianakis co-star with Jones. Fogel directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Kerry Howley, based on the latter’s New York Magazine article about Winner.

SYNOPSIS: Based on a true story, Reality Winner is a brilliant young misfit from a Texas border town who loves her pink gun almost as much as helping others. After teaching herself Arabic in high school so she can be of service in the Middle East, Reality is recruited by the Air Force but quickly becomes disillusioned when she finds her morals challenged. After transitioning to a money gig as an NSA contractor, Reality stumbles upon government secrets regarding Russia’s election hacking during the 2016 Presidential campaign. Does she expose the truth or keep quiet? Ultimately, she decides to leak the truth leading to her trial and historic sentencing for espionage.

Winner hits select theaters and VOD on September 13th.

TAGSconnie brittonDanny RamirezEmilia JonesKathryn NewtonSusanna FogelWinnerzach galifianakis