Daniel Radcliffe Plays Against Type in This Controversial Thriller That Is Dominating Streaming Charts

It’s not often that a small, politically charged crime thriller suddenly blows up years after release — but that’s exactly what’s happening with Imperium. The 2016 film, starring Daniel Radcliffe as an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates a neo-Nazi group, has quietly surged on streaming and become a word-of-mouth hit on Starz, nearly nine years after its debut.

Originally released to modest box office returns, Imperium was the directorial debut of Daniel Ragussis, and it marked one of Radcliffe’s most radical post-Harry Potter career moves. Trading wands and wizardry for shaved heads and swastikas, Radcliffe plays Nate Foster, a young, idealistic agent tasked with infiltrating a domestic terrorist cell. The film was inspired by real-life undercover agent Mike German, whose experiences informed the screenplay’s frightening authenticity.

Was Imperium Worth Seeing?

At the time of its release, Imperium received strong critical praise — if not widespread attention. It currently holds an 84% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it both “timely” and “troublingly relevant.” Collider awarded the film a B+, writing:

“It’s difficult to talk about Imperium in a purely critical sense — its very DNA is intertwined in a political statement (that white supremacism is the biggest threat to national security) that is so convincing and deeply troubling that it feels nearly sufficient to call it important, nearly required viewing… Imperium has found a satisfying combination of genre thrills and real-life implications, resulting in a movie that, if not the first to tackle the subject matter, is certainly one of the best.”

While audiences were more divided — the viewer score sits at 64% — critics agreed that Imperium delivered a raw, unsettling look at the banality of extremism. Ragussis described his research process as “intense and incredibly dark,” explaining that he stumbled upon the neo-Nazi subculture while studying World War II and the rise of online hate.

“I was reading about Hitler and watched a few of his speeches on YouTube, and there would be hundreds of comments saying things like ‘RIP Adolf’ and ‘greatest leader of the 20th century,’” Ragussis told Collider. “So I was immediately like, ‘who are these people?’ I realized this community was much deeper and more diverse than I could’ve imagined, and I felt a story needed to be told.”

He eventually partnered with former FBI agent Mike German to craft a fictionalized but authentic narrative, one that doesn’t glamorize undercover work but instead focuses on its psychological toll and moral gray areas.

Ragussis also credited Radcliffe with elevating the project:

“We got the script to him through his agent, and he responded very quickly. He really connected to the material and was enthusiastic about doing it. We could not have been more thrilled.”

Imperium is streaming now on Starz.

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Release Date

August 19, 2016

Director

Daniel Ragussis

Writers

Daniel Ragussis