The documentary follows congressman Anthony Weiner and his wife Huma Abedin, shortly after his 2011 resignation when scandalous photos of Weiner mysteriously appeared on his Twitter account, leading to a tumultuous spiral as more and more pictures of the congressman in various states of undress begin to leak to the public. The documentary revolves around his attempted comeback from his initial resignation during his 2013 campaign in the Democratic Party primary for Mayor of New York City. His campaign goes well at first, with many New Yorkers willing to give him a second chance as evidenced in polls putting him at or near the top of a tight mayoral race. During the filming of the documentary, however, additional photos and evidence of online sexual activity surface, including explicit text conversations with women that occurred well after his 2011 resignation from Congress. The mood of the campaign switches from exuberance to pain. Intimate views are captured of Weiner, his wife and his campaign staff struggling with the new revelations and the media firestorm that ensues. Weiner's wife, an adviser to Hillary Clinton, comes under fire during the scandal. The relationship between the couple gets strenuous, and in a couple of instances, the camera is asked to leave the room. Weiner's campaign manager quits when a press conference is held in which Weiner comes clean of his sexting, and his campaign begins to take a downward spiral. Weiner comes in fifth place in the polls, garnering only 4.9% of the popular vote.
People
People documented in the film include:
Anthony Weiner
Huma Abedin, his wife and a close aide to Hillary Clinton
Sydney Leathers, one of Weiner’s online sex partners, who attempts to confront him on election night
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016. It was released theatrically in the United States in May 2016 and broadcast on Showtime in October 2016. Starting June 2014, the film began releasing internationally in the UK, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Australia, and Japan, and television broadcasts in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Israel, Belgium, and Holland.. The film received an R rating from the MPAA for language and some sexual material. Upon release, Anthony Weiner declined to endorse the film and claimed he had no intention of ever seeing the final product, saying "I already know how it ends." After the film was released, Weiner claimed that "Kriegman had assured him verbally and in emails that he would not use Abedin in the film without her consent", and that Abedin never granted permission for Kriegman to use the footage. When asked if he will sue the filmmakers, Weiner didn't give a definitive answer. The filmmakers disputed Weiner's claim, stating that they clearly "had consent from everyone who appears in the film, including Anthony and Huma."
Reception
Critical reception
The film received near universal acclaim by critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 96% approval rating based on 160 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Weiner uses sharp insight and untrammeled access to offer a portrait of a political and personal collapse that's as queasy as it is undeniably compelling." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Box office
The film performed decently, earning a worldwide box office total of $1,751,120 on an unknown budget. Of that $1,751,120, the film made $1,675,196 domestically and $75,924 internationally. The film is ranked #7,479 in the all-time domestic box office rankings and #11,109 in the international box office rankings. On a per-theater average, the film made about $16,835 per screen.
