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Watching a movie about the COVID-19 pandemic is not the most advisable decision right now, even when it comes from expert documentarian Alex Gibney and his co-directors Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger. Gibney's latest, "Totally Under Control," charts the timeline of the pandemic we are currently living through, using Donald Trump's empty words as its title. The fundamental problem with a movie like "Totally Under Control" is that it has no ending.

"Totally Under Control" is by no means a waste of two hours because it's impossible for anyone to claim they know everything about the coronavirus. Gibney, Harutyunyan, and Hillinger offer a breadth of data and interviews that allow us to understand how we got to the position we are in on a much deeper level. Outside of the facts and figures, however, "Totally Under Control" doesn't offer a new stance or emotional pull. The United States government bungled the response to the pandemic and while that may be open to interpretation, when everything is laid before you, it's hard to argue to the contrary.

At the time of writing this review cases are on the rise, yet again, in the United States and around the world. Recently, it was reported that new cases exceeded 50,000 in a day, which hasn't happened in months. There are plenty of reasons for this, but, unlike other countries, it never really felt like the United States got a chance to breathe before what's being called "the second wave," which is imminent or already knocking on our door.

Besides the data crunch and the talking head interviews, "Totally Under Control" poses one question we should all be asking: How did the United States drop the ball so badly? As Gibney states in narration, "In a moment of crisis, the world's most powerful nation didn't rise to the occasion." Perhaps the United States has constantly felt like it was lagging because "Politics got in the way of science," as Gibney observes early in the movie.

The most important interviews in the film come from Rick Bright, an immunologist with a target on his back because he filed a whistleblower complaint regarding his early advice about the pandemic being ignored. Bright offers a lot of insider information, providing some of the movie's strongest moments, because everything surrounding his interviews just exacerbates what we have been feeling for the past seven months. The most infuriating note in Bright's testimony is that he was ready to start combating the coronavirus with testing and vaccine creations but was sidelined. He caused a "shitstorm" when he said he would need $10 billion to begin doing the work we so urgently need.

Outside of all the information presented, what's fascinating about "Totally Under Control" is how it was made throughout the pandemic. The movie shows the safety precautions taken for the filmmakers and their subjects, including camera, lights and laptops all set up behind makeshift shields to keep everyone safe. It's interesting to see how recently this movie was worked on, as it ends with a title card about Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis, which was made public on October 2.

Yes, the movie is informative and will make you angry, but is it too soon to see something about an event without a conclusion? Most Americans, and people around the world, are reminded daily that we are living through a pandemic when they can't see a loved one, or their children can't go to school, or, a tad more frivolously, they can't go to a movie on a Friday night. Sometimes being the first movie out about a topic shouldn't be the most important thing. Time and distance could have done wonders for a movie like "Totally Under Control."

There has been a lot of finger pointing and blame placing throughout 2020 and, frankly, a great deal has been deserved. "Totally Under Control," which is being strategically released ahead of the November election, isn't about partisanship; it's about accountability and understanding. Trump has showed minimal interest in getting in front of the virus, constantly downplaying it, promising it will disappear "like a miracle," and assuring Americans it's totally under control. The facts state what's obvious: Donald Trump failed to meet the moment and, even more damning, he didn't really seem to care to try.

"Totally Under Control" will be available on demand starting October 13 and will begin streaming on Hulu starting October 20.