It is based on the FBI interrogation transcript of American intelligence leaker Reality Winner, which Satter previously staged as the play Is This a Room.

[6] On May 9, 2017, Reality Winner watches Fox News coverage on the firing of James Comey by President Donald Trump on the TV at her office.

25 days later, on June 3, Winner returns home from grocery shopping, where she is confronted by FBI agents Taylor and Garrick, who explain they have a warrant to search her house and her belongings.

Winner initially denies knowledge, but over the course of an hour is eventually compelled to confess she printed and leaked a document from the National Security Agency's database.

Winner denies wishing to be a whistleblower or to undermine the intelligence community à la Edward Snowden, instead saying she wanted the American public to have the same information the government had about the election.

Winner receives both praise and criticism for her actions, with some accusing her of colluding with the Middle East or denying the veracity of the leaks altogether.

A former enlisted US Air Force member and NSA translator, Winner leaked an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections to the news website The Intercept.

She was confronted at her home in Augusta, Georgia, by FBI agents R. Wallace Taylor and Justin C. Garrick, who interrogated her over the course of an hour in an unused room in the house.

spoken in the film by an FBI agent played by John Way), which premiered at The Kitchen in 2019 before an extended off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theatre later that year.

The website's consensus reads: "Reality's narrow scope and gripping fact-based story add up to a riveting showcase for Sydney Sweeney in the title role.