Brief Story Line
On what started as a normal day in Fort Geely Alaska, the team led by Major Daniel Gonzales (Anthony Ramos - Ironheart mini series, Hamilton etc) detected a nuclear missile that was of unkown origin and seemed to be heading towards the US in less than 20 minutes. The White House situation room team led by Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson - Silo TV series, Reminiscence etc) immediately coordinated with Secretary of Defense Reid Baker (Jared Harris - Morbius, Reawakening etc). STRATCOM Commander General Brady (Tracy Letts - Deep Water, The Post etc), Deputy NSA Jake Baerington (Gabriel Basso - The Strangers: Chapter Two, The Night Agent TV series etc) and also the President (Idris Elba - Heads of State, H/JACK TV series etc) on how to handle.
With so limited time, everyone involved had to decide on the best course of action and the response on such attack to the US.
So what would happen to the people involved? You could find out in this film.
End of Brief Story Line
When I read the film's information on Netflix, I noticed that it was categorized as thriller & drama. So I was not too sure what to expect, except obviously not action. Anyway the first few minutes was rather unclear where it was heading, but then it sprang to life when the missile was detected and people started to be panicking. As the movie progressed, the intensity felt consistent though I was a bit hoping for a real-time thing like on 24 TV series, but it did not materialize.
After some time, the film took a different approach where the whole situation was retold but from different perspective. And it was not done once but amazingly twice. I always admired this kind of story telling cause it showed the intelligence of the director as the audience would be shown the whole story from 3 different angles. No wonder the movie was praised for its directing by Kathryn Bigelow (famous for her previous critically acclaimed works of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty). I read that the film had its premiere in the Venice Film Festival and nominated for its highest prize The Golden Lion.
The cast to me was a great factor that contributed to the suspense as they were all able to demonstrate the sense of panic and urgency during an unprecedented event of the worst possible scenario related to nuclear weapon. Unlike an action movie where the suspense was on how to avoid or stop the attack, this one focused more on the decision makers' reaction and the resolution. In addition to those names I mentioned above, the film also had some more support cast such as Moses Ingram (Ambulance etc) as FEMA official Cathy Rogers, Jonah Hauer-King (I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025 etc) as Lt. Commander Robert Reeves, Greta Lee (Tron: Ares etc) as NSA officer Anna Park, Jason Clarke (Pet Sematary 2019 version etc) as the senior officer in Situation Room Admiral Mark Miller and many others which you could see for yourself.
The movie itself had duration of 112 minutes including closing credits. It did not have any mid or post end credit scene, so there was nothing added to the ending. I guess audience were expected to think ourselves on how it would or should end and this was definitely not satisfying for people who was hoping for a resolution after such a built up. But if we dive deeper, we would realize that the movie aimed to provoke our thoughts on how scary the doomday's scenario would be in such event. I think it was the real intention of the writer Noah Oppenheim who used to be President of NBC News and producer of Today Show which meant he was experienced in handling major political or world news.
In the end this movie was something different. It was suspenseful in its own way with a gripping intensity throughout and was really good in delivering the message. However the lack of resolution would probably make most people upset (including myself even if I understand why). There was also one thing that I thought was rather missing, i.e. the mass hysteria of normal people cause I find it hard to believe that nuclear attack could have been unknown by everyone, especially people in the supposed targeted area. But perhaps once again, that was not the intended message of the filmmakers and it was enough to just show the emotion from the people involved. So if you are interested in all the attributes I mentioned and ready with an open end, I believe you would like watching this one. However it's probably better to skip it if you do not like to watch something unresolved. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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