Wormwood, a conspiracy
Peter Sarsgaard in a True Story of CIA Crimes
When it comes to unspeakable black ops antics, the shadiest name in the business is The Central Intelligence Agency, or the CIA. One of their most infamous experiments was Project MKUltra, which initially sought to create an infallible “truth serum,” but then went into even more dubious territory with goals of weaponized mind control.
Wormwood, a new miniseries on Netflix seeks to tell the untold story of Frank Olson, a CIA scientist who died of an apparent suicide in 1953. Acclaimed filmmaker Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War) dares to go deeper into the darkness than any of his older films. It blends stylized dramatizations with interviews with real-life people, including Olson’s son, Eric, to create a surreal experience unlike anything one might normally expect from a conventional documentary.
The story of Frank Olson is fraught with mystery and classified dead ends. His death has been exploited to forward numerous conspiracy theories, but this is one case where there actually was a sinister conspiracy that killed an innocent man. The six-part docudrama explores Olson’s puzzling death, dives into Eric’s determined quest to uncover the truth, and throws righteous shade at the insidious CIA and their clandestine operations.
Peter Sarsgaard stars as Frank Olson, and the supporting cast includes such esteemed talent as Bob Balaban, Tim Blake Nelson, and Molly Parker, among others.
Wormwood premieres December 15 on Netflix.
