Overview
- Confession, which premiered Wednesday, November 11, was released on The Daily Wire’s streaming service the same day it played a one-night U.S. theatrical event.
- The screenplay is the first feature credited to Ben Shapiro and the film was directed by Václav Marhoul with cinematography by Peter Menzies Jr.
- The cast includes Rob Lowe as a professor held in Lubyanka Prison and James Franco as his interrogator, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, Brad Dourif, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Emile Hirsch in supporting roles.
- Early reviews praised the film’s harsh, claustrophobic visuals and production craft but criticized the screenplay and pacing as turgid, overly talky and stagebound, noting long monologues and graphic depictions of Stalin-era atrocities.
- The production was filmed quickly in Los Angeles on 35mm, screened at the Warsaw festival, and its release reflects The Daily Wire’s strategy of platform-first distribution and efforts to attract established actors outside the traditional studio system.