Benedict Cumberbatch pulls off a believable Julian Assange in "The Fifth Estate" (Walt Disney Studios).

“How ironic.”

“The Fifth Estate” is a movie about Wikileaks, the organization that operates under a moral obligation to release classified information and news leaks to the public. Its founder, Julian Assange, is one of the two lead characters, played by Benedict Cumberbatch of “Sherlock” and “Star Trek Into Darkness” fame.  

Whether his role is that of protagonist or antagonist is a more complex question. Seeing as Cumberbatch received a personal letter from Julian Assange just a day before shooting began, imploring him to not take on the role, suggests that the man himself was not too pleased with his portrayal.

READ MORE: Film Review: 'The Fifth Estate'

The acting is spot-on; Benedict Cumberbatch was undoubtedly a good choice for the lead role. He delivers the kind of fantastic, nuanced performance we’ve come to expect from him, working well within the framework of his assumed personality to give slight suggestions of a multifaceted individual. However, the nature of the role and the script simply do not allow for too much complexity, painting Assange in more negative tones than positive.

This being the case, it is completely understandable that Julian Assange is so concerned about his portrayal. If Cumberbatch’s performance were embarrassingly poor in quality, no one would take it seriously. 

But this is not the case with “The Fifth Estate.” 

The film presents itself as a tool to enlighten the masses on Wikileaks and Julian Assange, but instead muddles fact and fiction together, creating a backdrop illusion of realism while ceaselessly tampering with the details. Cumberbatch manages to add some charm to the character by way of talented acting, but ultimately it is the script itself that limits the extent to which he can provide a positive interpretation of Assange. 

In the movie, we witness Assange as the antihero who falls from grace as Domscheit-Berg brings him to justice. We are fed pieces of Assange’s childhood that are presumably supposed to help us sympathize with his character. However, the backstory highlighting the cult he grew up in seems forced and inadequate – and this being an explanation for Assange’s white hair feels almost humorous in a moment of the film that was no doubt meant to be intensely revelatory. Though Cumberbatch’s stellar performance manages to elicit some sympathy from viewers, this emotion is mixed with confusion due to the clunky backstory that fails to quite hit the mark.

Of course, this somewhat weakly executed backstory of Assange is false in the first place. And his overall depiction, though not overwhelmingly negative, does nothing to help his case. 

READ MORE: Julian Assange Granted Asylum By Ecuador In Defiance Of Britain

In comparison, Domscheit-Berg’s warm, heroic portrayal in the film isn’t surprising upon examining the sources used for the screenplay. The story is practically begging for bias: one source, the book "Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website," is a vindictive retrospective penned by the real Domscheit-Berg himself, while the other source, "WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy" is also written by two men who have had less-than-pleasant dealings with Assange. Like the man or not, one cannot deny that the movie is unfairly biased for a reason.

With all this in mind, and the fact that the film’s IMDB page lists one of its tags as “biography,” it’s really no wonder Julian Assange is ticked off. After all, Cumberbatch’s pleasing performance will only further the notion of realism that Assange is vehement to refute. “The Fifth Estate” is worth a watch to get your Benedict Cumberbatch fix, but should not be mistaken for being biographical - certainly not, according to Assange himself.

Watch the trailer for "The Fifth Estate" below.

Reach Staff Reporter Sivani Hari here.