Documentarian Bryan Fogel caught lighting in a bottle with 'Icarus', he stumbled into a story about Russian dopping which got that government banded from the Olympics, arguably saved the life of his informant, and made his own career, truly earning his Oscar. 'The Dissident' can't replicate that happenstance, it doesn't try, but it is a well thought out, lucid handling of a matter of real world importance, the death of exiled Saudi journalist Jamal Khasoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The film takes that event, the who and why, and places it in context of the power dynamics within the Saudi government and larger resistance to their rule, as well as authoritarian rule in other middle eastern nations. Significant stuff. You also get a nice picture of Khasoggi, long a spokesman for the ruling machine who had finally had enough, and paid with his life. ***1/2
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