| Director | Susanna Fogel |
|---|
Reality is raised by her mother Billie, a social worker, and father Ron, an unemployed writer, in Texas. Reality has an interest in social justice and languages. She joins the Air Force out of high school, hoping to provide aid in Afghanistan. Instead, she is assigned to Fort Meade to run surveillance on the Taliban. One night, Reality and her coworker KayLee Thompson pick up a translation about a suspicious package, which results in five individuals being shot. To cope, she becomes a fitness enthusiast and starts volunteering. She begins seeing Andre, a local bartender and aspiring veterinarian.
The Winner family dynamic deteriorates—Reality's sister Brittany marries her conservative boyfriend Taylor and Billie is divorcing Ron, who has become depressed and addicted to alcohol and pills. Two years later, Reality is intrigued by Edward Snowden's leaks.
Fed up with the violence incurred by her job, Reality applies for an NGO giving humanitarian aid in Pakistan, but is rejected for her lack of a college degree. Her relationship with Andre ends. In order to pay for Ron's healthcare, Reality joins Pluribus, a contractor for the National Security Agency.
The NSA office is inundated with Fox News coverage about potential Russian interference in American elections. A curious Reality finds evidence of such in the NSA's files and saves a copy for herself. Ron is hospitalized for congestive heart failure; on his deathbed, he encourages her to keep working for her beliefs. She prints out the evidence, sneaks it out of the Pluribus office, and mails it to The Intercept.
Days later, Reality is met outside her home by the FBI. She is interrogated, arrested, and denied bail. Legal proceedings focus on her interest in languages and sarcastic sense of humor to paint her as a terrorist, and she is placed in solitary. Billie works to humanize Reality in the media. Reality is eventually sentenced to five years in federal prison, where she is able to meet her mother and sister. She wonders if the leak was worth it.