128 minutes. Thriller/Romance n Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl, Carice van Houten, Laura Linney, Stanley Tucci, David Thewlis, Peter Capaldi, Dan Stevens

Directed by Bill Condon

During a pivotal speech in Bill Condon’s contentious film about the rise of WikiLeaks, founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) paraphrases the words of Oscar Wilde: “Give a man a mask and he’ll tell you the truth.”

Whether there is absolute truth in The Fifth Estate is debatable.

Condon’s film has been denounced by the website, which insists “most of the events depicted never happened”.

There are certainly elements of The Fifth Estate that beggar belief, including the central relationship between Assange and Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Bruhl).

On screen, the white-haired Australian founder is depicted as manipulative, self-serving and bullying. He treats everyone, particularly nice guy Daniel, with lip-curling disdain which forces us to question why the two men would continue to work together when one is painted as a monster.

Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Assange is mesmerising. The vocal patterns and mannerisms seem polished to perfection but the cold blackness in his eyes refuses to let us in, even for a second.

The film opens in London, July 2010, in the offices of The Guardian. Editor Alan Rusbridger (Peter Capaldi), Deputy Ian Katz (Dan Stevens) and reporter Nick Davies (David Thewlis) are poised to publish their front-page story about the Bradley Manning leaks in tandem with The New York Times and Der Spiegel.

The film rewinds two years to sketch the relationship between Julian and Daniel, who meet at a conference and embark on their quest to expose corruption within the upper echelons of power. Julian demands absolutely loyalty. Meanwhile, Deputy Undersecretary Of State, Sarah Shaw (Laura Linney), becomes increasingly concerned by the power wielded by WikiLeaks.

The Fifth Estate repeatedly sticks the knife into Assange whil every character except for Assange abides by a moral compass through thick and thin, including the British media.