In 2016, Oliver Stone released his film about national security whistleblower Edward Snowden. Unlike many other of the director’s projects, “Snowden” was a surprisingly restrained affair, buoyed by a standout performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the titular intelligence subcontractor. Far from being dull, however, the “Snowden” remains an underrated spy movie which is well worth a revisit 10 years after it flopped in theaters. Thankfully, the movie just hit Netflix.
In 2013, Snowden revealed the existence of several global surveillance programs via classified National Security Agency documents which he smuggled out of the agency and delivered to journalists. Following his disclosure, his passport was revoked, and Snowden sought asylum in Russia, where he still lives to this day. Stone couldn’t resist telling his story.
“Snowden” was written by Stone and Kieran Fitzgerald and based on Luke Harding’s book “The Snowden Files” and Anatoly Kucherena’s “Time of the Octopus.” It explores how, following his military service, Snowden joins the intelligence services and grows increasingly disillusioned with their practices, recognizing the unconstitutional nature of several surveillance measures before leaking information about them to the press. Stone views him as a heroic figure and his film follows that line. But aside from offering some important insights into the whistleblowing debacle itself, “Snowden” boasts one of Gordon-Levitt’s best performances and is actually one of the best hacker movies you’ll see.
Snowden is as relevant today as it was in 2016
“Snowden” follows the titular whistleblower from his Army training days through to his time at the CIA and his hiring by the NSA. As well as seeing how Edward Snowden smuggled documents out of his agency (a Rubik’s Cube is involved) we also see how his relationship with his now-wife Lindsay Mills (played in the film by Shailene Woodley) develops.
Oliver Stone movies have always clearly expressed the director’s viewpoint and here he unapologetically depicts Snowden as a patriotic activist doing the right thing. That was always going to prove controversial among those who consider him a traitor and opportunist. Regardless, Stone’s movie raises important questions about civil liberties and democracy that remain just as relevant a decade later as they did back in 2016. Not only does the film interrogate the issues Snowden himself was concerned with, i.e. mass government surveillance, it also speaks to how that government treated Snowden in the aftermath of his revelation. As Abbie Hoffman once famously put it, “You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists” — something that surely remains pertinent in today’s political climate.
Unfortunately, none of that made for any significant commercial success, with “Snowden” making $37.3 million on a budget of $40 million. But plenty of critics seemed impressed with the movie. On Rotten Tomatoes, “Snowden” has a critic score of 61% based on 261 reviews with of Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post describing it as “a superbly crafted, engrossing film” and A.O. Scott of the New York Times commending Stone on making “an honorable and absorbing contribution to the imaginative record of our confusing times.” The film hit Netflix on July 15, 2026 and is available to stream right now.
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