Jessica Chastain works for the CIA. She travels to Pakistan to meet up with a guy who has a receding hairline and a love of torture in order to try and track down that elusive little rascal Osama Bin Laden. She gets all intense and involved and lots more torture happens. We then get to go on a massive hide and seek mission with Jessica and her pals to find out if they can or cannot track down the big OBL. Is he in this mountain cave?? No, not there. Is he hiding in this city?? No, not there either. O wait, is he in that big complex which was all over the news a few years back when they found Osama Bin Laden and shot him? Probably.
This is the true story of the hunt and subsequent shooting of Mr Bin Laden and is surprisingly restrained and open about how everything was done. Most notably right from the off we are shown torture sequences and the film does not shy away from the fact this went on, allegedly, and may or may not have been lied about by the powers that be, wink wink Mr Obama. It is a bold portrayal of events and director Kathryn Bigalow channels her previous work, The Hurt Locker, to bring a gritty tense drama to the screen. Jessica Chastain and her support are fantastic and bring a real human element to the film questioning morality at every turn. The real testament to the film is the fact that despite knowing the outcome and final set piece you are still on the edge of your seat. I loved it more than I thought I would and more than most films I have seen in recent months. Cracking stuff
Verdict: 5/5
