Film
Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes
Alexis Bloom's forensic portrait of Roger Ailes traces how a political operative became the architect of Fox News, then imploded under sexual harassment allegations. It's a meticulous, damning documentary that feels less like scoring points and more like watching institutional rot laid bare. Essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand modern American media and power.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like documentaries that dig into how a media empire and its political influence were built, and you're happy to sit with the machinery behind the television screen.
Skip it if you need fresh revelations, since the film works from a well-covered story and may feel familiar if you followed the headlines at the time.
What it asks of you: Roughly an hour and three quarters, steady rather than frantic, with a serious tone that keeps its eye on institutional power and the people who were hurt by it.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Loudest Voice2019
Russell Crowe embodies Ailes with unsettling precision in this scripted account of the same rise and fall. It deepens what the documentary establishes, adding the interior monologue of a man convinced of his own righteousness.
But Playing a monster for seven hours can feel punishing, especially when you know how it ends. The show doesn't soften Ailes, and neither should you expect it to.
All the President's Men1976
The granddaddy of institutional accountability journalism. Woodward and Bernstein show how reporters expose corruption from the inside. If you're watching Ailes' story, you should know what real investigative pressure looks like.
But It's a 1970s political thriller, which means it moves at 1970s speed. Patience required for the payoff.
The Rise and Fall of the C.I.A.
Another Alexis Bloom documentary about an American institution built on propaganda and secrecy. Same director, same unflinching method. If you trusted her lens on Ailes, she's applied it here with equal rigor.
But It's a dense historical document, not a narrative. Requires active viewing. Some sequences are heavy.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Yes Men Fix the World2009
Both show how institutional power operates through narrative control. Ailes built an empire on a story; Yes Men show those stories can be unmade the same way.
Activists pose as corporate and government officials to expose institutional mendacity. It's the inverse angle: instead of documenting power's corruption from outside, it infiltrates and reveals the lie. Funny, furious, and darkly smart about how easily institutions can be spoofed.
But Some stunts are juvenile and the tone whipsaws between laugh-out-loud and dead serious. It's activism as performance art, which means it's sometimes indulgent.
More like this (6)
The Diplomat2023
Keri Russell plays a career diplomat navigating institutional power and institutional betrayal. The genre is totally different—it's a thriller—but the anatomy of how institutions protect the powerful is the same.
But It's a spy drama, so it prioritizes entertainment over realism. If you're coming from a documentary, the artifice might jar.
Citizen Kane1941
Orson Welles' masterpiece about a media mogul's corruption and power. It's the template: how one man warps an entire institution, and what the cost is. Everything else is riffing on this.
But It's from 1941 and shot in black and white. The language and pacing are period. You have to bring some effort.
The Front1976
Woody Allen stars in this dark comedy about blacklisting and institutional cowardice in television. It's funny and political at once, showing how institutions eat their own when power says to.
But It's a period piece about 1950s Hollywood, so the parallels are oblique. Also: Allen doing Allen, which not everyone loves.
Network1976
Paddy Chayefsky's prophetic satire about a news division willing to burn the world for ratings. It's fifty years old and somehow more true now. Shows how easily media becomes a con.
But It's a screenplay, so it's *written*, not observed. The artifice is visible. Some find that dated, not prescient.
The New Yorker Presents2015
Anthology series based on New Yorker stories and reporting, including a brutal segment on Fox News culture. Short form lets you process between stories. Thoughtful without being preachy.
But Anthology means hit-or-miss. Some episodes sing, others don't. You're committed to hunting for the good ones.
Nightcrawler2014
Both argue that modern media is built on a man who understands that truth is negotiable and power goes to the best salesman. The documentary documents it; the film dramatizes the psychology.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays a sociopath who understands that media is a con and power accrues to whoever tells the story. It's a brutal fiction built on the same architecture as Ailes' real playbook. Uncomfortably prescient.
But It's relentlessly bleak and Gyllenhaal's character is repulsive. There's no redemption and no relief. Some find that exhausting rather than clarifying.
People
Cast
Roger AilesSelf
Glenn BeckSelf- Babette BombshellRoger Ailes
Catherine CorcoranMarsha Callahan
Directing
- Alexis BloomDirector
Production
- Alex GibneyExecutive Producer
- Dan CoganExecutive Producer
- Geralyn White DreyfousExecutive Producer
- Jenny RaskinExecutive Producer