Col. Katherine Powell, a military officer in command of an operation to capture terrorists in Kenya, sees her mission escalate when a girl enters the kill zone triggering an international di... Read allCol. Katherine Powell, a military officer in command of an operation to capture terrorists in Kenya, sees her mission escalate when a girl enters the kill zone triggering an international dispute over the implications of modern warfare.Col. Katherine Powell, a military officer in command of an operation to capture terrorists in Kenya, sees her mission escalate when a girl enters the kill zone triggering an international dispute over the implications of modern warfare.
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Colonel Katherine Powell (Dame Helen Mirren) is a U.K.-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from "capture" to "kill". But as American pilot Lieutenant Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone triggering an international dispute, reaching the highest levels of U.S. and British government, over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare. —Bleecker Street
Top review
Intention vs. reality
Great movie that doesn't have to rely on tons of CGI to sustain interest. Instead, there is just a handful of characters, and they discuss about consequences. It's a discussion that won't happen in reality, of course, but the characters represent the different viewpoints in the drone killing process, and they do it very well. As another comment said: you have never seen a Skype call this gripping. This is great cinematography.
Had it just been a discussion about the moral ambiguity of drone strikes, the movie would not have convinced. Where the movie shines, IMO, is its portrayal of uncertainty. Reality cannot be manipulated, and can certainly not be taken for granted. The outcome is not decided in the discussion, but afterwards, and we have to face it. That can make you reluctant to act to the point of cowardice, or all gung-ho, but it doesn't make a difference in the end.
So, is there a happy ending? It doesn't matter. Live with the pain.
Had it just been a discussion about the moral ambiguity of drone strikes, the movie would not have convinced. Where the movie shines, IMO, is its portrayal of uncertainty. Reality cannot be manipulated, and can certainly not be taken for granted. The outcome is not decided in the discussion, but afterwards, and we have to face it. That can make you reluctant to act to the point of cowardice, or all gung-ho, but it doesn't make a difference in the end.
So, is there a happy ending? It doesn't matter. Live with the pain.
helpful•218
- theovosse
- Jul 29, 2018
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