Whereas Diana is receiving unexpectedly bad reviews, The Fifth Estate seems to be doing way better than WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange ever wanted it to — that is, to say, well. According to USA Today, The Fifth Estate received a standing ovation when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival yesterday, and is receiving so much buzz that it's already joining Oscar talk this early in the game.
Early reviews praise the film's topical nature: According to Variety, working in the film's favor is the fact that it's "intelligent, suspenseful and features great work by Condon, Singer, the actors (particularly Cumberbatch) and all tech contributors." They do suggest that this could also slightly pose a challenge, however: "The rumor a few years ago was that some Academy voters didn’t fall in love with Social Network because they didn’t know what Facebook is, so were confused by much of the action." The possibility of The Fifth Estate heading to the Oscars, though, is billed as a likely one.
Not all reviews have been stunning, though, as EW points out: Indiewire commented that it's a "uneven, intermittently thoughtful but largely preachy overview of WikiLeaks’ rising influence," while Variety wrote that "both the kindest and most damning thing you can say about The Fifth Estate is that it primarily hobbles itself by trying to cram in more context-needy material than any single drama should have to bear."
It may be too early to tell right now whether or not we'll be seeing The Fifth Estate come up during awards season. Despite the standing ovation and a few good reviews, it's just premiered once so far — as more reviews and reactions trickle in, it'll become clearer whether or not Benedict Cumberbatch will become the most strangely-named Oscar nominee ever.
The Fifth Estate, directed by Bill Condon and starring Cumberbatch and Daniel Brühl, is set to open nationwide on October 18.
[Image via DreamWorks]
