When I first heard about Winner, I'll admit I was intrigued but also a bit skeptical. I mean, how do you take a story as politically charged and complex as Reality Winner's and turn it into something that feels human, relatable, and even funny? But after diving into what director Susanna Fogel and her team have created, I get it now. This isn't just another political drama—it's a portrait of a real person, with all her contradictions and complexities laid bare. And honestly? It's about time someone told this story with this much heart.
🎬 Susanna Fogel's Vision: Timing is Everything
Susanna Fogel has been trying to make this movie for years, and she shared some fascinating insights about why now is the perfect moment. "There was a period during COVID, when Trump was president, when nobody wanted a political story of any kind," she told me. "Everyone was like, 'I need escapism. I don't want this.' But now, as the world is in a really complicated spot geopolitically, people are wanting to engage."
What really struck me was her perspective on why Reality's story matters today: "It's a great time for a story about a young woman who came from nothing and became this role model in a way, but also a martyr in another way. For us to look at what happened with her and how our election systems are diseased, basically, and how everything structurally is falling apart."
Fogel hopes the film will speak to young people who feel disillusioned: "They don't know whether they should just check out and give up on their government or try to push back on stuff—and even what the ethics are of that."
👯♀️ The Sister Dynamic: More Than Just Family
Kathryn Newton, who plays Reality's sister Brittany, brought such warmth to our conversation. "The vital thing about Brittany is her brain," Newton explained. "She's an incredible scientist, a chemist with a brilliant mind. Her life was forever changed by her sister, as everyone's life is by the people we love."
What really got me was how Newton described the relationship: "Even though they're sisters and spend every day together, Reality changed her sister's life forever. This movie is a small window into that."
Newton actually spent time with the real Brittany Winner: "We had breakfast this morning. I met her daughter for the first time. We just spent a lot of time talking on the phone, FaceTiming, and seeing her cat. She has a cool podcast about chemistry—she's super cute and charming on it."
Emilia Jones on Becoming Reality
Emilia Jones, who plays Reality Winner, has this incredible chemistry with director Susanna Fogel. "We love each other," Jones told me with genuine affection. "I love Susanna as a person and as a director, and I think that's a great combination. She can transform a scene with her instinctive tweaks, and she's so pushy—in a good way! She always pushes me."
Jones compared working on Winner to their previous collaboration on Cat Person: "We had a great time with Cat Person, and then Winner was so different because it was a different subject matter, but I enjoyed it just as much. I hope I can work with Susanna for the rest of my life."
🎵 Finding the Sound of Reality's World
Composer Heather McIntosh shared some fascinating insights about creating the film's musical landscape. "I love Susanna's attention to the story and her choice to look at the full breadth of Winner as a person," McIntosh said. "She's not just one thing; you can really see the nuance."
Having previously worked with Fogel on Cat Person, McIntosh had some creative shorthand: "In Cat Person, we had to step back and let the audience figure out the moves. There's a little bit of that here, but I got to let it rip a little bit more in this one. I got to do some really funky stuff at the beginning and some rock'n'roll guitar moments."
Designing Reality's World
Production designer Sarah K. White faced the unique challenge of recreating Reality's world in the not-too-distant past. "It's really working with the special pieces and details that tell the story," White explained. "Making sure that you can communicate the spirit of the people with the audience."
One particularly touching detail involved Reality's bedroom: "She would tape up paper to the wall and paint on it, and her wall was a canvas, so we were able to do some of that detailing. Making her home feel authentically Texas was something that was a little tricky shooting in Winnipeg, but we were able to really pull that together."
White, who's also worked on shows like Swarm and The Flight Attendant, shared her approach to finding each project's soul: "Every story is really different and exciting and unique. That's why I like production design—I get to tell the stories of a variety of different people."
🤔 Why This Story Matters Now
What really hit me after speaking with everyone involved is how timely Winner feels. As Fogel put it, "The world feels like it's pretty dire. Hopefully, through a funny and irreverent person, we can make people engage with these ideas."
Newton added some profound thoughts about the film's themes: "When you make one decision, it changes your whole life. You don't have to be this important person who presses a button that changes the world. You can change your world every day, in very small ways. Or maybe, seriously, by the click of a button."
🎪 The Sundance Experience
What struck me most was how everyone described the Sundance experience as being part of a team. Newton, who also plays Cassie Lang in the MCU, compared it to her golf team days: "I was obsessed with being number one, but my coach said, 'No captain, that's not how we do it here. We're all equal, and be on a team and win and lose together.' That's what's special about Sundance—it feels like you're part of a team versus just, 'Here's my movie. Watch it.'"
💫 Final Thoughts
After all these conversations, I'm left thinking about how rare it is to see a female story told with this much complexity. As McIntosh noted, "So many times in women's stories, you kind of get pegged. 'Well, now we know what you are!' To be able to find this really dynamic person and where she came from and her sense of justice was just really powerful."
Winner isn't trying to give us easy answers about Reality Winner's actions. Instead, it's inviting us to understand the person behind the headlines—the sarcastic, gun-loving, vegan, yogi, CrossFit fanatic who found herself at the center of a political firestorm. And in 2025, with democracy feeling more fragile than ever, maybe that's exactly the kind of story we need.
Sometimes the most revolutionary act is simply refusing to be reduced to a single label... and this film gets that, you know?