- Sensibility: Perhaps it is my naive optimism, but some elements of the large scale operation seem too haphazard, particularly regarding issues of clearance with her partner joining late in the game and the widespread deaths.
- Cinematography: Production design are costuming are perfect, helping distinguish between the operatives and key players as well as communicating the shifts in tone with the changes in location. Lighting and camera work are also brilliant, giving the viewer a visual feast with all the grit and thrill of the narrative. A powerful score really is the cherry on top.
- Energy: Gripping and gut-wrenching throughout. Never a moment's break for the characters or the viewer.
- Narrative: The story, like the crimes involved, are unrelenting and dark in way that makes it unforgettable. The film is haunting, yet still very enjoyable. The characters may not be very complicated, but
the mystery surrounding many of them and the constant secrecy give so much food for thought that the film never goes stale, even on re-watch.
- T-Points: The film received five bonus points: one for a great sequence driving through a city, one for a brutal scene at the border, one for an amazing shot of an operation sinking below the horizon and entering a tunnel, one for a horrifying murder over dinner, and one for an unforgiving scene with a forced document signing.
There is a terrifying reality to this film, even though it is fiction. It's so dark and has so many unredeeming characters that you hope the kinds of things this story portrays can't happen, but
the details are so thorough and the emotions are so palpable that you fear that they can, and even worse, do happen. It's a brilliant, meaninful story captured beautifully.
Number of Watches: 2
