Cover-Up (2025)

December 19, 2025 (US) • Documentary • 117m

Overview

He's devoted his career to uncovering stories the powerful want buried. From My Lai to Abu Ghraib, dig into the life's work of journalist Seymour Hersh.

Directors

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Top Billed

Seymour Hersh

Keywords

career covered investigation cover-up government cover-up investigative journalism investigative journalist political cover-up political documentary documentary portrait

Where to watch

Free / Included

Netflix

Netflix Standard with Ads

Top Billed Cast

Isador Hersh

Self - Father of Seymour Hersh (archive footage)

Dorothy Hersh

Self - Mother of Seymour Hersh (archive footage)

Alan Hersh

Self - Brother of Seymour Hersh (archive footage)

Elizabeth Klein Hersh

Self - Wife of Seymour Hersh (archive footage)

Salvador Allende

Self - Chilean President (archive footage)

James Jesus Angleton

Self - CIA Chief of Counterintelligence (archive footage)

Michael Bernhardt

Self - U.S. Army Sergeant (archive footage)

Carl Bernstein

Self - The Washington Post (archive footage)

William Calley

Self - U.S. Army Lieutenant (archive footage)

George H. W. Bush

Self - Former CIA Director (archive footage)

Frank Church

Self - Chairman, Senate Select Committee (archive footage)

William Colby

Self - Former CIA Director (archive footage)

Lawrence X. Cusack III

Self - Forged Kennedy Papers (archive footage)

Max Frankel

Self - Washington Bureau Chief, New York Times (archive footage)

Bernard Gwertzman

Self - Editor, The New York Times (archive footage)

Ron Haeberle

Self - U.S. Army Photographer (archive footage)

Richard Helms

Self - Former CIA Director (archive footage)

Lyndon B. Johnson

Self - 36th President of the United States (archive footage)

Bob Kiley

Self - Former CIA Operative & Public Policy Expert (archive footage)

Henry Kissinger

Self - Secretary of State (archive footage)

Bill Kovach

Self - Editor, The New York Times (archive footage)

Howard Kurtz

Self - Host, Reliable Sources (archive footage)

George Latimer

Self - Civilian Lawyer for Lt. William Calley (archive footage)

James McCord

Self - Watergate Burglar (archive footage)

Myrtle Meadlo

Self - Mother of Paul Meadlo (archive footage)

Paul Meadlo

Self - U.S. Army Private First Class (archive footage)

Tony Meadlo

Self - Father of Paul Meadlo (archive footage)

Ernest Medina

Self - U.S. Army Captain (archive footage)

John Mitchell

Self - Former Attorney General (archive footage)

Richard Nixon

Self - 37th President of the United States (archive footage)

Frank Olson

Self - CIA, Biological Warfare Scientist (archive footage)

Joseph Paolella

Self - Secret Service Agent (archive footage)

Augusto Pinochet

Self - Chilean President (archive footage)

Ned Price

Self - Former Spokesperson, U.S. Department of State (archive footage)

Dan Rather

Self - 60 Minutes II, Correspondent (archive footage)

Ron Ridenhour

Self - Whistleblower & Journalist (archive footage)

A.M. Rosenthal

Self - Executive Editor, The New York Times (archive footage)

Donald Rumsfeld

Self - Former Secretary of Defense (archive footage)

Daniel Schorr

Self - CBS News Journalist (archive footage)

Mike Wallace

Self - 60 Minutes Correspondent (archive footage)

William C. Westmoreland

Self - U.S. Army Chief of Staff (archive footage)

Crew

Reviews

Brent Marchant

⭐ 7/10

December 31, 2025

In an age where it seems that troubling developments are ubiquitously lurking beneath the surface of public awareness, the need for intrepid investigative journalists to bring these stories to light is probably greater than ever. Unfortunately, such reporters have increasingly become a vanishing breed, especially in the mainstream media. Luckily, though, there are still some committed, courageous correspondents out there – mostly free-lancers – who are diligently working to bring these revelations to light. And one of the most prolific among them is veteran investigator Seymour “Sy” Hersh, who has made a career out of uncovering some of the biggest news stories for over 60 years. That prolific legacy is now the subject of a new documentary from directors Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, showcasing the 88-year-old’s many accomplishments, beginning with his exposé on the 1968 My Lai massacre (one of the Vietnam War’s watershed moments) and continuing up to his present-day reporting on incidents in global hot spots like Ukraine and Gaza. Viewers also learn of his diverse interim initiatives in covering the questionable practices of public figures like Henry Kissinger and clandestine organizations like the CIA, the atrocities of institutions like Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison, and the dubious ventures undertaken by major corporations, all through articles in various periodicals and an array of books. Over the years, Hersh has also bolstered the efforts of fellow journalists by helping to keep their stories alive when public interest in them was tepid, as evidenced, for example, by his supplemental coverage of the Watergate scandal, material that dovetailed the groundbreaking but underappreciated work of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and helped to elevate awareness of that incident. In addition, the film profiles Hersh’s life outside the journalistic trenches, showing how his unplanned entry into the field was itself almost a sort of happy accident, one for which truth seekers and concerned citizens should be thankful. On balance, the filmmakers present an even-handed and comprehensive biography of their subject, driven by candid interviews with Hersh, accompanied by commentary from those who know and have worked with him, as well as a wealth of supporting archive footage. Admittedly, there are times when the narrative could benefit from some better organization of its content, given its tendency to occasionally skip around needlessly, an issue that has shown up in some of Poitras’s previous offerings. However, to its credit, this recipient of the National Board of Review’s award for best documentary of 2025 nevertheless provides audiences with an informative and enlightening look at a man who has made us aware of a good many things that we might not have otherwise heard of. Indeed, we’re collectively better off for having had Hersh’s presence in our lives. After all, just think about everything we might have missed out on if he hadn’t been there to write about it.

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Cover-Up (2025)

Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus

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Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

Brent Marchant

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