💬 Review Wormwood

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agarriberri

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Name of the movie you are reviewing: Wormwood



Wormwood is a dramatized documentary about the death of Dr. Frank Olson in New York, and the search of his son, Eric, for the truth of the events.

Review:
The focus of Wormwood is on the death of Dr. Frank Olson, a biological warfare scientist in the employ of the CIA in 1953; his son, Eric Olson, spends his entire life trying to uncover the truth around the events of his father's death, being the focus of the doc. Through a dramatized showing of the events, we learn Dr. Olson was adamant about American use of biological weapons in the Korean War, and how this kind of opinion may have cost his life. The CIA unwillingly drugged Dr. Olson with LSD, along with other employees, in a lake house, in a secret experiment at the dawn of Project MK-ULTRA; all save for Olson recovered well, but his intolerance to the drug led to a national security risk, which sealed his fate from that point on. They ruled his death a suicide; the reports read that Olson, a suicidal man, jumped from a window at the Hotel Statler to his death. However, his son Eric was increasingly skeptical of the story as the years passed by, prompting him to dive a rabbit hole of deception, lies and gaslighting, where the truth is not an obligation to the public, but a mere annoyance to the Agency.

Wormwood is a chilling documentary, exposing how the CIA experimented illegally with unwilling subjects, using murder as a tool to cover up these acts, along with the support of other branches of the government. The doc is beautifully shot, with Errol Morris shining through the dramatic reenactment of the scenes. The music is also a pleasant touch, adding to the ambient. Perhaps the biggest con is the glacial pace in which the plot advances; the 10 day story of Olson's death was stretched to fill a 6 episode series, which would have benefitted with a reduction to 4 episodes.

Overall, Wormwood is a warning of how the Agency acted with impunity in the 50's and the 60's; Doctor Olson and his family being just a tiny cog in the machinery of lies in name of national security.

Would you recommend this to other users? Absolutely.

Rating(1-5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
 
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