Synopsis
Now unconstrained by an official post, Steve Bannon is free to peddle influence as a perceived kingmaker, who some say still has a direct line to the White House. After anointing himself leader of the “populist movement,” he travels around the North America and Europe spreading his hard-line anti-immigration message.
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Cast
- Steve BannonSelf
- Nigel FarageSelf
- Sean BannonSelf
- Patrick CaddellSelf
- Kent EkerothSelf
- Daniel FleuetteSelf
- David FrumSelf
- Joshua GreenSelf
- Christopher HopeSelf
- Piers MorganSelf
Recommendations
- 90
Variety
The Brink is an impeccably crafted verité ramble — an engaging and enraging, disturbing and highly revealing movie. - 87
TheWrap
Klayman, an increasingly skilled observer as a documentarian, occasionally succumbs to her own curiosity, or maybe incredulity, to ask him a question about these comments, or positions, but mostly, her quiet, unobtrusive gaze exposes his flaws without requiring interjection. - 75
IndieWire
The result is a watchable overview with few explosive details, but plenty of reasons to root for his downfall, and some modicum of payoff. - 75
Slant Magazine
Alison Klayman’s fly-on-the-wall documentary cuts Trump’s Rasputin down to size but doesn’t completely dismiss his power. - 75
The Playlist
The award-winning filmmaker is a one-woman crew on the project, and Klayman’s tenacious fly on the wall, verité approach illuminates the cynical limitations of Bannon’s cruel human worldview through day-to-day contradictions, far more than an interview-style documentary where such a figure is given a platform to talk in circles ever possibly could. - 70
New York Magazine (Vulture)
So what makes The Brink so different from just another platform for this professional troll? Though Klayman sticks to a largely vérité approach of following her subject around and observing his various interactions, she also provides important context. - 63
Movie Nation
Perhaps its going to take two documentaries to plumb the depths of Bannon’s persona, what drives this frump who rails against elites even as he’s serving their purposes so well. Klayman’s has an incomplete yet polished feel to it. There’s too much we don’t find out. - 50
The A.V. Club
The inherent risk of this vérité approach is that your subject won’t prove to be all that fascinating, and The Brink, while far more openly critical of Bannon than "American Dharma," ultimately offers little justification for spending an hour and a half in his company.
