Camp X-Ray (2014)

A soldier assigned to Guantanamo Bay befriends a man who has been imprisoned there.

Director:

Peter Sattler

Writer:

Peter Sattler

Stars:

Kristen Stewart, Payman Maadi, Lane Garrison

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nawal Bengholam	...	Newscaster
Payman Maadi	...	Ali
Lane Garrison	...	Ransdell
Joseph Julian Soria	...	Rico
Marwan Naji	...	Detainee #1 (as Mark Naji)
Anoop Simon	...	Detainee #2
Kristen Stewart	...	Cole
Cory Michael Smith	...	Bergen
Ser'Darius Blain	...	Jackson
Tara Holt	...	Mary
LaDell Preston	...	IRF #1
Daniel Leavitt	...	IRF #2
Marco Khan	...	Mahmoud
Julia Duffy	...	Cole's Mother
Robert Tarpinian	...	Detainee #3

Storyline

A young soldier escapes her suffocating small town by joining the military, only to find that she isn't going for a tour of duty in Iraq as she hoped. Instead, she's sent to Guantanamo. Met with hatred and abuse from the men in her charge, she forges an odd friendship with a young man who has been imprisoned at Gitmo for eight years.

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Plot Keywords:

guantanamo bay | female protagonist | unlikely friendship | covered in feces | reference to harry potter | 

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Taglines:

We are at war.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief nude images

Details

Official Sites:

IFC Films [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 October 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Marcados Pela Guerra

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,316, 17 October 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$9,837, 7 November 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

GNK Productions, Gotham Group, Rough House Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Sattler researched for a year about Guantanamo Bay and learned much of the daily minutia from the leaked Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of Gitmo through Wikileaks.

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Goofs

Whilst all of the other guards on the cell shift watching the detainees check each and every room, including 109 and 110, Cole noticeably doesn't check those two rooms. This is visible on every rotation, and is so evident it's hard to believe it was overlooked. This is especially clear when the credits roll and the two new guards are shown looking in each cell, including 109 and 110.

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Quotes

Colonel Drummond: Nobody gives you a medal when you do it right, they just demote you when you do it wrong.

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Connections

Referenced in Making Camp X-Ray (2015)

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Soundtracks

Raunchy
Written by William Justis and Sidney Manker
Performed by Bill Justis
Courtesy of K-Tel Music Inc.

User Reviews

Camp X-Ray is a great Sundance drama

Peter Sattler did good with "Camp X-Ray." Sattler utilized a bipartisan script that is brought to life with two amazing performances from Kristen Stewart and Payman Maadi.

Pfc. Amy Cole and Ali Amir are two completely different characters with completely opposite backgrounds, yet they reach an understanding. Cole develops a better understanding of the humanity behind the detainees and Ali gains perspective of an MP guarding him. There are lingering questions over Ali's innocence or guilt or whether he is manipulating a vulnerable soldier.

The tenuous friendship is so intriguing because it should not exist and it's not quite a friendship. "Camp X-Ray" is a slow-paced drama that builds up to an incredibly tense third act. The acting is tremendous and the attention to set design is impressive. I've seen documentaries of life at Camp Delta and it looks very similar.

Stewart and Maadi have a great on screen dynamic that the director wisely captures with close ups. Lane Garrison as Cpl. Ransdell is solid as the main antagonist of the film.

I recommend "Camp X-Ray" to anyone. It's a good film that doesn't preach right or wrong.