Documentary directors Errol Wright and Abi King-Jones brought clarity, perspective and humanity to their previous feature, Operation 8 about the 2007 police raids in Tuhoe country. They've done so again in The 5th Eye about New Zealand's role in the Five Eyes spy alliance.
Much of this will feel familiar to anyone who has followed how the Government increased the GSCB's surveillance powers despite its embarrassments in the Kim Dotcom and Waihopai Three cases or the NZ connections to the revelations of Eric Snowden.
Sometimes the dots don't quite join into anything conclusive or new. And relying heavily on news footage, much of this feels like we're being reminded of what happened - if we only paid attention - than being told anything new.
![A scene from the documentary, The 5th Eye.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/PXDUQXUFOI3K3TRT3BMXIN4PX4.jpg?auth=e9ab93dc0c7d8df9d509940a6f6c2d26d95fe16045f137680700778cc79bed89&width=16&height=8&quality=70&smart=true)
But the doc is at its best telling the story of the whiskery earnest trio who popped the bubble on the Waihopai spy base then, having convinced a jury of their protest principles, were found not guilty.