Totally Under Control 2020
Directed by Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger
Produced by Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger
Executive Produced by Maiken Baird, Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann
Production Company Jigsaw Productions
Distrbuted by Neon
From his earliest days in office, President Trump treated science and the government institutions that manage public health with negligence and hostility. When the novel coronavirus emerged in early 2020, the United States, once a global beacon of scientific achievement and humanitarian leadership, found its response hobbled at every turn by lack of resources, chaotic chains of command, and intensely politicized squabbles.
Totally Under Control documents the COVID-19 tragedy that unfolded in the US from its beginnings, years before the virus hit its shores. With unique access to immunologists, researchers, former WHO and CDC officials, and Trump staffers who witnessed the administration’s surreal levels of mismanagement from the inside, director Alex Gibney gives us a front row seat to the deadly decisions, indecisions, lies, and corrupt actions that resulted in the unnecessary loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives.
Variety “’Totally Under Control’ Documentary on White House Response to COVID-19 Lands at Neon”
Deadline “’Totally Under Control’ Trailer Gets 6 Million Views in 72 Hours”
Directed by Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger
Produced by Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger
Executive Produced by Maiken Baird, Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann
Production Company Jigsaw Productions
Distrbuted by Neon
From his earliest days in office, President Trump treated science and the government institutions that manage public health with negligence and hostility. When the novel coronavirus emerged in early 2020, the United States, once a global beacon of scientific achievement and humanitarian leadership, found its response hobbled at every turn by lack of resources, chaotic chains of command, and intensely politicized squabbles.
Totally Under Control documents the COVID-19 tragedy that unfolded in the US from its beginnings, years before the virus hit its shores. With unique access to immunologists, researchers, former WHO and CDC officials, and Trump staffers who witnessed the administration’s surreal levels of mismanagement from the inside, director Alex Gibney gives us a front row seat to the deadly decisions, indecisions, lies, and corrupt actions that resulted in the unnecessary loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives.
Variety “’Totally Under Control’ Documentary on White House Response to COVID-19 Lands at Neon”
Deadline “’Totally Under Control’ Trailer Gets 6 Million Views in 72 Hours”
"Gibney, who directed the film with Suzanne Hillinger and Ophelia Harutyunyan, has a bloodhound’s nose for corruption and failure, as well as a knack for streamlining news reports, data points and interviews into a coherent blow-by-blow narrative. Not since “Going Clear,” his 2015 indictment of the Church of Scientology, has he been so grippingly in his element."
LA Times
"In an era dominated by misinformation, it plays like an essential service to set the record straight."
Indiewire
"How did we get here? Seven months into a global pandemic with no discernible end in sight, the first rough draft of history is still being written. But Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney brings the documents, and the receipts, in Totally Under Control — a methodical, devastating account of the American government’s malfeasance and failure to act from the top down."
Entertainment Weekly
“The filmmakers present these events in rapid, blow-by-blow succession, lending the doc an urgency that contrasts with the languid federal response to the pandemic. The result is a film that...feels shocking to watch in retrospect for its crisp frankness.”
The Atlantic
LA Times
"In an era dominated by misinformation, it plays like an essential service to set the record straight."
Indiewire
"How did we get here? Seven months into a global pandemic with no discernible end in sight, the first rough draft of history is still being written. But Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney brings the documents, and the receipts, in Totally Under Control — a methodical, devastating account of the American government’s malfeasance and failure to act from the top down."
Entertainment Weekly
“The filmmakers present these events in rapid, blow-by-blow succession, lending the doc an urgency that contrasts with the languid federal response to the pandemic. The result is a film that...feels shocking to watch in retrospect for its crisp frankness.”
The Atlantic
"Per the documentarian’s tradition, it’s a sharp and concise report of recent events comprised of conversations with experts...Gibney can’t include every one of Trump’s high crimes, [but] what he does deliver is a decisive denunciation of the presidential failures that have led us to our present situation."
Daily Beast
This is a documentary that feels confident and intentional at every turn. It’s a story we need to know now, and it’s an essential warning for future generations."
The Wrap
"Even within the limited window of time the movie examines, there’s a seemingly infinite number of topics on which to concentrate, and it’s a testament to Gibney’s approach — honed over dozens of docs — that he can shape the chaos into something coherent."
Variety
Daily Beast
This is a documentary that feels confident and intentional at every turn. It’s a story we need to know now, and it’s an essential warning for future generations."
The Wrap
"Even within the limited window of time the movie examines, there’s a seemingly infinite number of topics on which to concentrate, and it’s a testament to Gibney’s approach — honed over dozens of docs — that he can shape the chaos into something coherent."
Variety
Trailer