DISTRIBUTED by Netflix, The Great Hack presumably hopes to capture the same level of attention as fellow 2019 documentary: Fyre. Although unlike Fyre, The Great Hack lacks the snazzy editing and captivating through line. It is devoid of a unique point of view, instead focusing on Brittany Kaiser’s feeble attempt at salvaging her public image.
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When a documentary concerns such an intrinsically political topic, it needs to present details in a very straightforward manner to avoid accusations of partisanship. The Great Hack instead decides to use its facts as dramatic moments, throwing the timeline all out of whack. Why present a major witness’ testimony as certainty for a large portion of the run-time, then briefly detail their potential bias, and then quickly explain away said bias? Presenting any potential conflicts of interest before giving the viewers the testimony allows them to process it. Hand-waving it away after the fact feels cheap and flimsy. In a film that does not need to invent its own conflict or motives, conveying information in such a roundabout way destroys the narrative’s credibility.
The Great Hack stumbled upon a story with solid, compelling information.
- Fact: Cambridge Analytica scraped private information (information they said they deleted, but didn’t).
- Fact: Cambridge Analytica used that information to bombard individuals with hyper specific advertisements, articles, and messages.
- Fact: Cambridge Analytica oftentimes “bent” the truth in these messages (how political campaigns often do).
- Fact: Cambridge Analytica found so much success because of the intrusive nature of the data they mined.
- Fact: Cambridge Analytica was not above creating division and apathy among voters.
Yet, it refused to hammer home these points. Rather, it focused heavily on the human rights aspect of the issue. While a noble cause, the documentary failed to directly address Cambridge Analytica’s most compelling defense, that what they do is just another form of political advertisement. Sure, all of the information to disprove that is technically in The Great Hack, but there is no focus. It revels in the emotion of the story, and forgets to present a methodical construction of its argument.
If you have not read up on the news concerning Cambridge Analytica and remain generally unaware about data and technology, The Great Hack provides a nice summary of events. Unfortunately, it does not go far beyond that. Former Cambridge Analytica executive Brittany Kaiser plays the bumbling fool, who just so happens to get caught up in a whirlwind of activity she could never have expected, and I mean…okay. Her attempt at grabbing positive PR delivers some laughs but, ideally it would not be the only new perspective brought to the table. Everything else is just an overproduced version of superior reporting and news clippings.
