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

Kristen Stewart and John Carroll Lynch had both previously worked together on the film, Catch That Kid (2004).

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Goofs

At the beginning, Cole is instructed to be in charge of the detainees "right hand" but on the bus when she describes the event, she tells the others that she was in charge of his "left arm".

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Quotes

Cole: [inscribed in library copy of DEATHLY HALLOWS] To Ali. I don't know if Snape's a good guy. But I know you are. Love, Blondie

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Connections

References The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

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Soundtracks

Antojos Del Firmamento
written by Adonis Puentes
performed by Adonis Puentes
[featuring Septeto Nacional De Cuba]
courtesy of Belu Music
by arrangement with Blue Buddha Entertainment

User Reviews

Stewart and Maadi are fantastic

Peter Sattler's directorial debut, "Camp X-Ray," is a masterfully shot film that inhabits two stellar performances by Kristen Stewart and Payman Maadi.

Stewart plays PFC Amy Cole from small town Florida who is socially awkward and equally earnest. Meanwhile, Maadi's character of Ali Amir is a charismatic detainee whom is engulfed in his impotent anger and ceaseless boredom.

The film itself is quietly drawn and slow paced to convey the monotony of being a guard at Guantanamo Bay. "Camp X-Ray" is a two-hander for the majority of the film and it rests entirely upon the interactions of PFC Cole and Detainee 471 (Ali). Personally, I liked that the dynamic between the two is purely platonic and develops from the honest human requirement of connection. The tag line of the film "Connection takes courage" is entirely apt.

The supporting cast of Lane Garrison and John Carroll Lynch as Cpl. "Randy" Ransdell and Col. James Drummond do solid work in their roles as Cole's superiors at Camp Delta.

Sattler kept a film about Gitmo as apolitical as probably possible, but some will dislike the lack of a solid stance. The film does not offer any answers to the quagmire of Guantanamo Bay, but rather raises questions and displays the conflicting emotions one might feel while serving or detained there.

Overall, I really liked this little Sundance indie. The attention to detail is impressive and the performances are more than worth seeing.