Citizenfour

The Gist: The documentary that recounts the timeline and motivation behind Edward Snowden's decision to reveal to the world one of the NSA's most secretive programs.

When I first heard what Snowden had done, I thought it wasn't in the best interest of the general population to find out that such a program existed, because it meant that the terrorists and random bad guys knew it as well.

Furthermore, countless lives might have been put in danger and missions threatened by his revelations completely unnecessarily, because, frankly, if you thought that your government wasn't monitoring everyone's private communications, then you were deluding yourself.

That's what governments do and have done ever since the dawn of civilization, when humans started congregating in tribes who were suspicious of each other, thousands of years ago.

Reading more about Snowden's motivations and watching this Oscar winning documentary, however, really made me realize that even if I always suspected that a government, any government, spies on its citizens, it doesn't make it right.

I actually sympathize with Snowden now, and hope against hope that he'll receive a presidential pardon so that he can actually come back to the US and live as normal a life as he can, rather than being exiled forever or face life prison for treason.

The Bottom Line: Citizenfour is a gripping documentary that is a must-see if you are interested in finding out more about Edward Snowden the whistle-blower and why he did what he did.

Grade: 8