Director Laura Poitras’ highly anticipated new documentary on Edward Snowden and the NSA, entitled Citizenfour, debuted at the New York Film Festival over the weekend. The film is an extraordinary look inside the mind and motivations of whistleblowers, and enthrallingly captures how the NSA disclosures transformed the world’s view of privacy and government surveillance in the past year and a half. (It also includes some new revelations.)

But since the director, as well as two of the main participants in the film, are on our board of directors, you shouldn’t just take our word for it. Instead, read these early reviews from film critics with no connection to the privacy and surveillance world. And make sure to bring any friends or relatives skeptical about Snowden or NSA reform to see it on October 24th when it’s released nationwide.

Deadline: