Critics and early viewers are agreed that The Interview is less than a masterpiece, but thanks to threats from hackers that nearly derailed its release, it has become an event.

Amid controversy, confusion and threats, Sony released The Interview online in an unprecedented response to hackers who spoiled the Christmas opening of the comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Sony “made a mistake” in shelving a satirical film about a plot to assassinate North Korea’s leader, US president Barack Obama said, and he pledged the US would respond “in a place and manner and time that we choose” to the hacking attack on Sony that led to the withdrawal.

The United Nations’ human rights committee has unanimously condemned the “systematic, widespread and grave” human rights abuses in North Korea, citing its reported use of torture, the death penalty for political and religious reasons and numerous political prison camps.