Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Takes us inside the world of Anonymous, the radical "hacktivist" collective that has redefined civil disobedience for the digital age. The film explores early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, then moves to Anonymous' raucous beginnings on the website 4chan. Through interviews with current members, people recently returned from prison or facing trial, writers, academics, activists and major players in various "raids," the documentary traces Anonymous’ evolution from merry pranksters to a full-blown movement with a global reach, the most transformative civil disobedience of our time.
We Are Legion benefits enormously from its timing and access — capturing Anonymous at a pivotal cultural moment before the mainstream fully understood what hacktivist collectives were. The narrative structure is coherent and illuminating, tracing a genuinely fascinating arc from 4chan trolling culture to global civil disobedience. Interviews with actual members (some facing prosecution) lend authenticity that few documentaries in this space could claim. Cinematography is functional at best — standard talking-head intercutting with screen captures and news footage, nothing visually distinctive. The novelty is high because the subject matter was genuinely unexplored territory in documentary form at the time, and the film captures a cultural phenomenon with real insider texture. The ending feels slightly abrupt given the ongoing nature of the movement, leaving the story necessarily open-ended but without a strong thematic resolution.