Educational Media Reviews Online

Total Trust examines the social control and surveillance techniques of the autocratic regime in contemporary China. This harrowing film uses the case studies of two lawyers, a journalist, and their families, who have been targeted by the state for alleged subversive activities. The Chinese government deployed many versions of surveillance and coercion to try to break the will of the subjects of the film. Whether it was the omnipresent cameras throughout China, high tech facial recognition software, neighborhood watch officers, or simple spying by the neighbors, the subjects of the film were continually surveilled and monitored. The effects of this surveillance varied, from mere annoyance to interruption of the children’s schooling, all the way to detention and torture. These examples just scratch the surface of the nightmarish assaults on personal liberty exposed in the film.

Total Trust earns this reviewer’s highest recommendation. Everyone would benefit from viewing this film. Anyone who watches this film will not soon forget it or the dangers it lays bare. Total Trust provides signal warnings about the degradation of human rights and human dignity and shows just how fragile those concepts are. Courses on contemporary China, totalitarianism, surveillance, human rights, big data, artificial intelligence, and political philosophy would all benefit greatly by including this film.

[n.b. The reviewer does not speak any version of Chinese and therefore had to rely on the provided subtitles.]

Awards:
Best Feature, It's All True - International Documentary Film Festival

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