Direkt36 Releases New Documentary „The Trap”

  The new film shifts the focus from family wealth to the state’s performance

Hungary’s investigative outlet Direkt36 has released a new feature-length documentary, “A csapda” (The Trap), a film that argues Prime Minister Viktor Orbán entered office in 2010 with an unusually strong mandate and exceptionally favourable external conditions—then traces what the filmmakers describe as the consequences of how that opportunity was used over the next 16 years.

Published this week on Direkt36’s platform (and distributed via Telex’s Direkt36 channel), the film is positioned as the team’s next major production after the widely watched 2025 documentary “A dinasztia” (The Dynasty).

What The Trap is about

Direkt36’s own description of The Trap frames the film as an account of what Orbán did with what it calls a “historic opportunity” to put Hungary on a development path after 2010. The documentary builds its narrative around areas the creators describe as most directly shaping citizens’ lives—healthcare, education and transport—while also discussing macroeconomic tailwinds and the scale of EU funding that flowed to Hungary during the 2010s.

Rather than presenting the story purely through statistics, Direkt36 says the film combines data, expert assessments and personal stories to illustrate how policy choices were felt on the ground. Telex’s presentation of the documentary similarly notes the film’s emphasis on public services and how government priorities affected them over time.

Direkt36 also explicitly links The Trap to its previous work: the new film, it says, explores what happens to core public services “if governing priorities are not the development of these areas, but the acquisition and expansion of economic power.”

 Investigative journalism in Hungary

Direkt36 describes itself as a nonprofit investigative journalism centre operating since 2015, focused on scrutinising those in power and exposing abuses and cover-ups, funded largely through reader support.  The organisation is best known for long-form investigations and collaborations that are frequently republished or amplified by Hungarian and international partners. In the case of The Trap, both Direkt36 and Telex list a larger reporting team and the same film-making leadership associated with The Dynasty: the documentary is credited to multiple Direkt36 journalists working with independent filmmakers, with Máté Fuchs named as director and additional film professionals involved.

The Dynasty

Direkt 36 previous documentary, “A dinasztia” (The Dynasty), was published on the outlet’s YouTube channel on 7 February 2025 after close to a year of production, according to Telex’s reporting at the time. The film focused on the business rise of Orbán’s family and close circle, with particular emphasis on István Tiborcz (the prime minister’s son-in-law) and the expansion of a wider network of interests that the documentary links to state decisions and public contracts.

The viewership figures became part of the story almost immediately. Telex reported that The Dynasty drew about 800,000 views in 24 hours, then crossed 1 million by Saturday afternoon and reached around 1.3 million by that evening. International coverage later highlighted its broader impact: Le Monde reported that by 20 February 2025 the film had reached nearly 3 million YouTube views within roughly two weeks.

More recently, Hungarian media have continued to track the cumulative figure. Media1 reported in September 2025—while covering an international award mention—that the film had been opened about 3.8 million times on YouTube by that point.  Why Direkt36 is making another documentary now?

Seen together, Direkt36’s two films signal a deliberate editorial arc. The Dynasty foregrounded wealth accumulation around the prime minister’s family; The Trap shifts to the state’s performance—asking how a period of parliamentary dominance, economic expansion and unprecedented EU transfers translated into the quality of public services. That framing is stated directly by Direkt36 and echoed in Telex’s presentation of the new release.