The Most Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi Website

The Ending of HBO’s ‘Reality’ Explained


Reality Winner frowning
Credit: HBO

HBO’s Reality follows the story of whistleblower Reality Winner (played by Sydney Sweeney) and the events that led to her arrest. The ending of HBO’s Reality explains why she leaked classified information.

Reality Winner is a former enlisted US Air Force member and National Security Agency (NSA) translator who leaked an intelligence report to the news site The Intercept.

The report detailed Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. In 2017, Reality Winner was interrogated for over an hour in an unused room in her home in Augusta, Georgia by FBI agents R. Wallace Taylor and Justin C. Garrick.

Reality Winner interrogated by the FBI
click to enlarge
+ 6
Credit: HBO

At the start of the film, we’re told that the FBI documented the interrogation with an audio recorder and that the dialogue of the movie is taken entirely from the transcript of that recording.

As Reality explains, the FBI’s interrogation was more about why she did what she did. In the ending of HBO’s Reality, she says that the FBI “didn’t care about anything else. They were just straight-up curious to know why.”

So, why did Reality Winner leak classified information knowing very well that she would face consequences? This article explains the ending of HBO’s Reality.

HBO’s ‘Reality’: What Happened to Reality Winner?

Reality Winner looking at the front
click to enlarge
+ 6
Credit: HBO

Reality Winner moved to Augusta, Georgia after she was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 2016. She wished to use her Pashto language skills to help refugees but didn’t get the job due to a lack of post-secondary education.

Because she still possessed a top-secret security clearance, she was hired by a company that provides services to the NSA.

But Reality had a hard time at work and filed formal complaints about them having Fox News on all the time where she had to listen to non-stop lies and disinformation.

It was during this job that she came across a classified document that contained information on Russian interference in the 2016 US Elections.

In the movie, Reality reads out loud a relevant portion of the intelligence report:

Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate actors redacted, executed cyber espionage operations against a named U.S. Company in August 2016, evidently to obtain information on elections-related software and hardware solutions, according to information that became available in April 2017.
Given the content of the malicious email, it was likely that the threat actor was targeting officials involved in the management of voter registration systems. It is unknown whether the aforementioned spear-phishing deployment successfully compromised the intended victims, and what potential data could have been accessed by the cyber actor.

“It was right there, and I just didn’t care about myself at that point,” Reality tells the FBI agents. The agents then ask her why she made the decision to send the report anyway despite knowing the consequences.

HBO’s ‘Reality’ Ending Explained: Why Did Reality Leak Classified Information?

Reality Winner looking behind from her desk
click to enlarge
+ 6
Credit: HBO

“I knew it was secret. But I also knew I had pledged service to the American people.” – Reality Leigh Winner

Asked why she leaked classified information, Reality responds “Why do I have this job if I’m going to be helpless? It was just the final straw.”

Reality’s decision to leak classified information came from a sense of duty that the people had the right to know. She decided that the American people needed to know about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

She figured that with everything else that just keeps getting released, “Why can’t this get out there? Why can’t this be public?” Thus, she decided to send the documents to The Intercept anonymously.

However, The Intercept failed to keep her anonymity and sent copies of the documents to the NSA which led to the latter informing the FBI.

Reality Winner was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, the longest prison sentence ever imposed for the unauthorized release of government information to the media.

Reality Winner taken into custody by the FBI
click to enlarge
+ 6
Credit: HBO

At the ending of HBO’s Reality, we see Reality getting arrested for leaking the intelligence report. The Intercept was also criticized for outing its own source and handling the situation irresponsibly.

There were also comments that her penalty of five years is exceedingly long and that it was there to create a chilling effect so that other people won’t do the same and everyone just stays in the dark.

The ending of HBO’s Reality also tells us that members of Congress and election officials shared the information Reality leaked to ensure the integrity of the nation’s voting systems.

Reality Winner was charged under the Espionage Act and was reportedly denied bail. However, she was released from prison after four years and will remain on probation until November 2024.

RELATED: Is Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Reality’ Movie Based on a True Story?

Where is Reality Winner Now?

A photo of Reality Winner outside her house
click to enlarge
+ 6
Credit: HBO

Reality Winner was released after four years in prison and will remain on supervised release until November 2024.

Winner shared with Rolling Stone about her frustrations on how The Intercept handled the leak and that she still has “a lot of bitterness” towards them:

“I wasn’t the first source that they burned and I definitely wasn’t the last — two other people have done prison time [due to] them being extremely sloppy… Every time one of their sources goes to prison, that’s another headline for them. That’s how they stay relevant—by burning sources, instead of the journalism that they once believed in… I knew what I was doing, I faced the consequences. That’s fine. It’s their attitude towards it. It’s the sloppiness… I have a lot of bitterness in my heart towards them.”

Speaking with USA Today, director Tina Satter said that Winner has not seen the film yet but is supportive of it.

“She spoke again quite recently to us and said it’s still too traumatic for her to watch and (relive) that day. But she does approve of it and has been very supportive,” Satter said.

Reality Winner talking to FBI agents in an unused room
click to enlarge
+ 6
Credit: HBO

Additionally, actress Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, The White Lotus) also shared that she watched the movie with Winner’s family at the Berlin International Film Festival premiere.

“It was absolutely incredible. Her mom hugged my shoulders and said she gained another daughter, and that she truly saw her daughter in my performance. That was such a beautiful moment to share,” Sweeney said.

Preparing for the role, Sweeney shared with The Hollywood Reporter that she watched interviews and spoke with Winner so that she could understand the latter’s speaking mannerisms.

Sweeney also went through physical training and tried to physically become like Winner as much as possible. She also used workout videos Winner posted on her Instagram.

Additionally, Decider reported that Winner is drug tested every two weeks, has a 10 p.m. curfew, needs permission from her probation officer for overnight trips, and that according to her Rolling Stone profile, Winner spends time working out and caring for her horse named Trouble.

RELATED: Is ‘The Idol’ Based on a True Story? HBO’s Controversial Series Explained

Reality is available to stream on Max (formerly HBO Max).

For more articles like this, take a look at our HBO, Queries, and Geek Culture pages.