Totally Under Control

Alex Gibney initially pitched the idea of making a documentary about the COVID-19 pandemic and rushing it for release prior to the presidential election to the head of Neon, Tom Quinn, who liked the idea. Gibney knew by working on a tight deadline he could not complete the film himself bringing on co-directors Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger.[3] Gibney decided to make the film in April after a friend of his had passed away from COVID-19 and another friend was on a ventilator, feeling as though the United States government failed to contain and control the virus.[4]

Due to the pandemic making it difficult to film, cinematographer Ben Bloodwell came up with a kit called "COVID-cam"[5] that was sent to subjects in the film, which they would pick up and begin recording themselves.[6] The kit, consisting of a DSLR camera and microphone, once connected to the Internet, would allow Bloodwell to see the image and control and adjust the camera settings.[5] With some subjects, the crew would rent out an Airbnb and isolate a portion of the room for the crew using a plastic shower curtain, while the interviewee would sit on the other side.[5]

In September 2020, Neon acquired distribution rights to the film.[7] It was released on October 13, 2020.[8]

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Totally Under Control holds an approval rating of 99%, based on 88 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.70/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Totally Under Control does a commendable job of distilling current events into a clear-eyed overview that's as engaging as it is enraging."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]

• Totally Under Control at IMDb