Fogel’s achievement is to have processed so much material while still making such a dramatic, heart-rending and clear-sighted film.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 16, 2025

Fogel continues to show his ability to create a striking piece of work that often frames its point of view as if it were a fictionalized narrative and, often, it is effective in unfolding a compelling tale.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 5, 2022

The Dissident can feel like an exhausting investigation, but its also an important one. It looks at the fragility of free speech, the dangerous potential of our connected lives, and the horrifying cost of standing up for what you believe.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 1, 2022

The Dissident remains essential viewing, a story that demands to be seen and admired for its fearlessness.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 17, 2022

It unfolds like a well-told thriller and is absolutely damning in its portrait of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Not an easy watch, but a searing look at what led to the grisly murder of Khashoggi at his country's consulate in Turkey.

| Nov 5, 2021

A disturbing, forensic quest for truth based on immense research, examining the life and political activities of the former insider who the opaque Saudi regime eliminated

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 30, 2021

The definitive Khashoggi documentary has not yet been made. I could have just read this in an article, what a waste of all of our time.

| Original Score: 16/100 | Aug 19, 2021

All the tackled political issues are dumbed down to fit a western binary of good and evil. The Arab Spring was great for the region but Saudi Arabia demolished it across the Middle East for fear it would encourage its own citizens to revolt.

| Aug 6, 2021

Equally chilling and moving.

| May 3, 2021

It's an astonishing piece of work, both fearless and artful in the way it encompasses and orders layers of information. If our world needs new forms to encompass the complexity of modern life, The Dissident points a way forward.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 22, 2021

Creatively, there are a couple decisions that didn't land. Overall I found it really interesting.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 19, 2021

This hugely informative, superbly assembled documentary is designed to anger the viewer - and it does.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 17, 2021

The need to question power and hold the corrupt accountable has never been stronger. May it continue beyond the virtues and limitations of The Dissident.

| Apr 15, 2021

Tyranny and its effects are no video game, but "The Dissident" overall retains the impact of its alarming narrative...

| Mar 29, 2021

Propulsive, tense and extremely thorough, The Dissident feels like a worthy fit for a man who lived his life on the edge and devoted his existence to keeping people accurately informed.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 29, 2021

Powerful and disturbing. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 24, 2021

It leaves the viewer with a dismaying sense that world leaders may find the geopolitical price of justice for this particular dissident simply too high.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 17, 2021

it is, in the defiant spirit of Khashoggi himself, utterly merciless in its critique of a brutal Saudi regime.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 13, 2021

The best thing about the documentary is that it restores Khashoggi to life...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 12, 2021

I would've preferred a more somber tone...I'm not sure that's what this subject needed. Nevertheless, it's an engrossing and horrifying story.

| Mar 11, 2021