The film follows Jane Owen (Marling), an undercover security agent, as she leaves behind her boyfriend to infiltrate an eco-terrorist group known as The East, who have publicly targeted massive corporations for their covered-up crimes against humans and nature. In between reports to her icy, amoral boss , Jane slowly grows fascinated with the group, its morals and goals, and its core, observing with a mix of horror and infatuation as they execute their violent “jams” on the corporations’ key members.
In spite of occasional misfires, the screenplay is exceptional especially in it is efficiency: there is so much going on that there isn’t much time to devote to individual characters or relationships – Marling and Ritter’s suffers the most but Marling and Batmanglij make every second count as each line is weighted with enough subtext to tell us the stories implicitly and thoroughly nevertheless.
The major characters are very well-drawn; even though we only get glimpses into Skarsgard, Page and Kebbell’s pasts, we feel we know them inside and out. The film moves along at a fluid, adrenaline-pumping pace and the tension is genuine and organic rather than forced the audience’s investment in the story grows from affection for the characters and connection with their ideals rather than cheap editing tricks, manipulative music and stylized lighting or sound.
The ending is comparatively underwhelming, but the overall package is one of the best, most provocative thrillers in years and firmly establishes Batmanglij and Marling as a sensational and important pairing.
ANDREI KLIMENT
ANDREI KLIMENT
LOGO paper 