Citizenfour is a documentary primarily focused on Edward Snowden's revelations about government surveillance. The film sticks closely to its subject matter without shoehorning in identity politics or checking demographic boxes. The narrative is driven by real-world events and personalities, rather than character diversity or ideological subplots. In our view, it's hard to accuse this film of sacrificing narrative integrity for woke points.

The film doesn’t take aim at family, faith, masculinity, or traditional cultural values. Its focus is technological overreach and governmental power, classic topics for investigative journalism. If anything, some viewers may see the defense of individual liberty and skepticism toward authority as nods to traditional civic values rather than a deconstruction of them.

While the film largely aligns with whistleblower sympathies and anti-surveillance perspectives, it presents government actors as antagonists without much room for alternate views. However, the absence of “woke” monoculture in the identity politics sense means it’s not a complete echo chamber, its bias is more political than cultural.