The Fifth Estate (15)

Directed by Bill Condon

3 Stars

If you have seen Alex Gibney's fascinating and in-depth documentary on the WikiLeaks saga then this riveting dramatisation will not shed any new light on the subject.

But it is still worth watching for Benedict Cumberbatch's stunning performance as its controversial founder Julian Assange.

A compelling thriller from Bill Condon, director of the last two Twilight films, it's an intriguing ride.

Based on the books of Assange's former friend and colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg, played superbly by Daniel Bruhl of Rush renown, and the Guardian journalist David Leigh, it chronicles the rise and fall of the website and its creator through his fractured friendship with the idealist Domscheit-Berg, just as David Fincher's The Social Network did.

But it gives no serious insight into how Assange the man ticks, apart from a couple of derisory flashbacks about his past. Last year's Underground: The Assange Story provided a more comprehensive understanding of the whistleblowing activist and his raison d'etre but, with the help of a stellar international cast, the film does capture the passion, betrayal, US government subterfuge and smear tactics to great effect.

Yet we remain none the wiser about Assange who, poignantly, has distanced himself from the film.

Maria Duarte