Cover-Up (2025 film)

Last updated
Cover-Up
Directed by
Produced by
  • Laura Poitras
  • Mark Obenhaus
  • Yoni Golijov
  • Olivia Streisand
Starring Seymour Hersh
CinematographyMia Cioffi Henry [1]
Edited by
  • Laura Poitras
  • Peter Bowman
  • Amy Foote
Music byMaya Shenfeld
Production
companies
Distributed by Netflix
Release date
  • August 29, 2025 (2025-08-29)(Venice)
Running time
117 minutes [3]
CountryUnited 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 that covered the U.S. Army torture scandals during the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.

Contents

The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2025. [4]

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]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 20 critics' reviews are positive. [11] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [12]

Accolades

Award / Film FestivalDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards November 9, 2025 Best Documentary Feature Cover-upPending [13]
Best Historical DocumentaryPending

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". Venice International Film Festival . Retrieved August 5, 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". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  12. "Cover-Up". Metacritic . Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  13. Davis, Clayton (October 14, 2025). "'Orwell: 2+2=5' and 'The Perfect Neighbor' Lead Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Variety . Retrieved October 14, 2025.