Cover-Up (2025 film)

Cover-Up
Release poster
Directed by	Laura Poitras Mark Obenhaus
Produced by	Laura Poitras Mark Obenhaus Yoni Golijov Olivia Streisand
Starring	Seymour Hersh
Cinematography	Mia Cioffi Henry [1]
Edited by	Laura Poitras Peter Bowman Amy Foote
Music by	Maya Shenfeld
Production companies	Praxis Films [2] Project Mockingbird Plan B Entertainment
Distributed by	Netflix
Release dates	August 29, 2025 (2025-08-29)(Venice) December 19, 2025 (2025-12-19)(United States) December 26, 2025 (2025-12-26)(Netflix)
Running time	118 minutes [3]
Country	United States
Languages	English Vietnamese Arabic

Cover-Up is a 2025 American documentary film produced and directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus. It explores the investigative journalism career of Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covered the U.S. Army torture scandals during the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.

The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2025. ^[4] It will have a limited theatrical release in the U.S. in December 19, prior to streaming globally on Netflix on December 26.

Premise

Explores the journalism of Seymour Hersh. ^[5]

Release

The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2025. ^[6] It also screened at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival on August 30, and at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10. ^{[7] [8]} It will screen at the 2025 New York Film Festival. ^[9] In September 2025, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film. ^[10]

It will compete in Stockholm Documentary Competition of the 2025 Stockholm International Film Festival on November 5, 2025. ^[11]

On November 17, 2025, it was shown as the closing film at Glimmerglass Film Days, a film festival in Cooperstown, New York. ^[12]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 24 critics' reviews are positive. ^[13] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". ^[14]

Accolades

Award / Film Festival	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards	November 9, 2025	Best Documentary Feature	Cover-up	Nominated	[15]
		Best Historical Documentary		Nominated
Stockholm International Film Festival	November 14, 2025	Best Documentary		Nominated	[16]
Cinema Eye Honors	January 8, 2026	Outstanding Non-Fiction Feature	Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Mia Cioffi Henry, Amy Foote, Peter Bowman, Maya Shenfeld, and Seymour Hersh	Pending	[17]
		Outstanding Direction	Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus	Pending
		Outstanding Editing	Amy Foote, Peter Bowman and Laura Poitras	Pending
		Outstanding Original Music Score	Maya Shenfeld	Pending
		Audience Choice Prize	Cover-Up	Pending
		The Unforgettables	Seymour Hersh	Won
Astra Awards	January 9, 2026	Best Documentary Feature	Cover-Up	Pending	[18]
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards	January 10, 2026	Best Documentary		Pending	[19]

References

1. "American Cinematographer's 2025 Rising Stars of Cinematography". American Cinematography. July 23, 2025. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
2. "Cover-Up". Praxis Films. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
3. "Cover-Up (15)". British Board of Film Classification . November 21, 2025. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
4. "Biennale Cinema 2025 | Cover-up". La Biennale di Venezia. 2025-07-18. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
5. "Cover-Up". New York Film Festival . Retrieved August 5, 2025.
6. Lattanzio, Ryan (July 22, 2025). "Venice Film Festival Unveils 2025 Lineup: Park Chan-wook, Benny Safdie, Mona Fastvold, and More". IndieWire . Retrieved August 5, 2025.
7. "Cover-Up". Toronto International Film Festival . Retrieved August 28, 2025.
8. Morfoot, Addie (August 6, 2025). "TIFF Documentary Lineup Includes Films From Laura Poitras, Raoul Peck, Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi". Variety . Retrieved August 28, 2025.
9. Rubin, Rebecca (August 5, 2025). "New York Film Festival Unveils 2025 Lineup: George Clooney's 'Jay Kelly,' 'Sentimental Value,' Park Chan-wook's 'No Other Choice'". Variety . Retrieved August 5, 2025.
10. Thompson, Anne (September 25, 2025). "Netflix Picks Up Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus' Documentary 'Cover-Up'". IndieWire . Retrieved September 25, 2025.
11. "Cover-Up". Stockholm International Film Festival . 9 October 2025. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
12. https://www.allotsego.com/film-days-events-continue-today-culminate-with-a-wrap-party-at-the-smithy/
13. "Cover-Up". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved December 4, 2025.
14. "Cover-Up". Metacritic . Retrieved October 12, 2025.
15. Davis, Clayton (October 14, 2025). "'Orwell: 2+2=5' and 'The Perfect Neighbor' Lead Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Variety . Retrieved October 14, 2025.
16. "Here are the winners of the Stockholm International Film Festival 2025". Mynewsdesk . 14 November 2025. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
17. Pedersen, Erik (November 13, 2025). "Cinema Eye Honors 2026 Nominations: 'Come See Me In The Good Light' Leads Field". Deadline . Retrieved November 14, 2025.
18. admin (2025-11-25). "The 2025 Hollywood Creative Alliance's (HCA) Astra Film Award Nominations". Next Best Picture. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
19. Hammond, Pete (November 19, 2025). "'One Battle After Another', 'Hamnet', 'A House Of Dynamite' Among AARP's Movies For Grownups Best Picture Nominees". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 20, 2025.

External links

• Cover-Up at IMDb