If 2023’s Reality was too terrifying for how it focused on the tragic tale of whistleblower Reality Winner, then 2024’s Winner is a lighter chaser. The corruption within the US government and the lengths it will go to silence those who expose conspiracies is so maddening that you almost have to laugh. Thankfully, director Susanna Fogel never tries too hard for laughs in this dark comedy. She finds just the right moments of absurdity amid a story of US interventionism and the propagandist influence Russia had on our elections. The anxiety is still present but with a knowing nod to the audience, as if to say, “Isn’t this all messed up?”

Reality Winner (Emilia Jones) is given a decent staging for her rising from a skeptical teenager to a disillusioned adult. Her worldview is informed by her eccentric father (Zach Galifianakis) keeping his mind open and her cautious mother (Connie Britton) keeping her head down. She’s also given a preview of what her passivity of the world will get her, as her sister (Kathryn Newton) ends up marrying a very uncritical man. Duped by recruiters, Reality signs up for the military, hoping to do good in the world. She does not, as her talents in languages land her a job translating possible Afghanistan targets, including children. She tries to block out the terror she is working for with her workouts, but there’s only so long you can literally run away from your problems.

After being chewed up and spit out by a military that never sent her over to Afghanistan, Reality takes matters into her own hands. When contracted for Pluribus International Corporation, she peaks around contracts and discovers that there was Russian interference in the 2016 election. Looking at this material, she looks up from her computer at the TV, where Fox News hosts shovel heaps of doubt on the Russian rumors. Nobody will expose this injustice when it’s right in front of their faces. With the rest of her life a mess, Reality exposes the interference and is soon imprisoned for her actions. She is imprisoned for exposing a crime and subjected to the cruel punishment of being trapped on a plane in the air for an extended period. How is this legal? It’s a good question that Reality herself asks.

There’s a decent amount of humor to balance out the anger-inducing moments of how scummy our American government was as they turned a blind eye to what ultimately led to Trump’s election victory and fucking us over for eternity. Reality gets in some solid jabs here and there, as when she fights off the advances of a recruiter with her expert knowledge of geopolitics and language. Later, after being devalued by the organization she signed up for, she’ll take a more hostile approach towards recruiters. The banter with her parents is pleasing, as Galifianakis brings some gentleness, and Britton boasts the bluster of a centrist mom. How accurate the comedic bite is for Reality might be up for debate, but her rebellious spirit is at least refreshing, painting her more as a hero than a woman who took a risk mailing out documents. The film does try to give her more relatable qualities with her favoring of rescuing a dog, sharing mild jokes with her coworker, and having steamy attractions to a bartender. Not all of it is that appealing, but the attempt to ground her instead of hold her up as a prodigy makes for an admirable assembly.

Winner mostly works for trying to bolster this American hero who deserved more. Her sacrifice was vital to exposing how corrupt our American government has become, highlighting how the rumors of Russian interference weren’t rumors at all. While I still favor Tina Satter’s claustrophobic approach to digging into Reality’s mind, this movie is okay for embracing the spirit of heroism that one should have for such a figure. Not all American heroes have to fire guns on the front lines. You can be a hero right at home by pointing out the grotesqueness that nobody wants to finger for fear of being targeted. The charm of this film is that it more or less frames her like an American with typical problems and concerns regarding the country, despite how quirky the film tries to frame her for laughs. But, hey, sometimes you need to laugh at these horrors if only to yourself back from the brink and fight another day.