Network (1976)
Be wary of fake news.
Presentation:
Sidney Lumet happens to predict or perhaps guide the future state of media with a timely exposé on the television news industry. A TV network exploits a hysterical anchor for profit until things go south. This dark comedy would probably be more funny if it wasn’t pretty much true in 2025. This may be the greatest film of all time for how relevant it is, foreseeing the manipulative spin and unethical greed of news companies. It has influenced films like Nightcrawler, but I think Network is even darker for how realistically dystopian it is. I don’t even know if you can call this satire, I thought this was real. I was genuinely confused by how prescient this film is considering how sensational, fear mongering, and rage baiting our media has become. The cinematography is minimal as usual for Lumet, tonally it feels quite similar to Dog Day Afternoon.
Conclusion:
The enduring legacy of this film makes it a must watch. Not only is it prophetic, but there is meta storytelling far ahead of its time when depicting the perversion of media. It’s a film within a film, deconstructing everything we’ve come to expect from story structure, all while simultaneously experiencing its consequences. Never has the power of cinema so convincingly warned then proven the very thing it warns, bu subversively hypnotizing you even though you know it’s wrong. A masterpiece.
Recommendations
Be wary of fake news.