Dealing with the moral quandary of a drone strike, Eye in the Sky captures the complex nature of pulling the trigger when you’re thousands of miles away from your target.
Written by Guy Hibbert and directed by Gavin Hood, the story demonstrates the interconnectedness of military decision making in the twenty-first century. Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) is running a complicated capture mission from a military base in England. She is attempting to seize high value targets from a terrorist group, including Susan Danford (Lex King) – a British citizen turned terrorist (on the top-ten most wanted list). After many long years, Colonel Powell finally has a bead on the elusive militants – who are making a stop in a safehouse in Nairobi.
Along with her team in the bunker, she has men on the ground in Kenya – one of which is undercover agent Jama Farah (Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips). Using a combination of physical tracking and technology (the man uses miniature cameras that look like insects – called insectothopters), the man follows the group of criminals and provides an eye into the tautly guarded safehouse. Colonel Powell also has soldiers waiting in a nearby building – as they will be the ones who have the task of grabbing the individuals.
The entire operation is viewed from overhead by way of a drone flown by Steve Watts (Aaron Paul – Breaking Bad), a man working at an air force base in Nevada. He is partnered with fellow pilot Carrie Gershon (Phoebe Fox), who helps him with managing the complex piece of equipment.
There is also someone working on getting facial recognition of the terrorists – she can be found in Hawaii.
The mission is being supervised by a panel led by Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman – in his last onscreen performance). The board also features British Attorney General George Matherson (Richard McCabe), government minister Brian Woodale (Jeremy Northam), as well as two other government officials.
When it is discovered that the terrorists are arming suicide bombers within the compound – for an imminent attack, the mission promptly switches from capture to kill. Depending on which side you take, an in depth discussion (or political red tape) takes place as the wide group of individuals working on the complex mission struggle to deal with the reality of the situation and the collateral damage that may come from the proposed drone strike (as there is a young girl selling bread just outside the walls of the safehouse). The team, that ranges from Hawaii to Kenya, are at odds with each other, as Colonel Powell and Lieutenant General Benson see a short window to achieve their goal of eliminating the high value targets, while Watts struggles with the scenario that will see him pull the trigger. Other government officials that are part of the advisory panel also disagree with the plan, which forces the military officers to run the proposal up to British Foreign Secretary James Willett (Iain Glen – Game of Thrones) – who is dealing with a bout of food poisoning in Singapore. The conundrum of whether the threat is justifiable enough to strike – and possibly risk the lives of those living and working around the compound, is debated, as the seconds tick away from them being able to achieve their mission. Will they strike or will the high value targets evade capture once again?
Director Gavin Hood constructs a taut, tense military thriller that puts us right in the midst of a seemingly lose/lose situation – where either decision will seemingly lead to a high death toll. Bringing together a brilliant grouping of character actors, the film thrives on a simple yet effective scenario. With each player capturing the emotional reality of the situation, the film’s concept feels utterly real. It is not difficult to buy Mirren’s character, who has been hunting these elusive targets for years. This has been her goal for eons and she does not want them to slip away once again. It is equally as convincing to watch Paul’s Steve Watts, who would have to watch from afar as he pulls the trigger (from thousands of miles away) – having to live with the killing of countless innocent bystanders in the name of doing his job. Each character has an angle that makes them altogether intriguing and wholly believable.
Eye in the Sky is a rivetting piece of film. Playing somewhat like an extended episode of 24 or Homeland, so much rides on each and every minuscule decision. Much like the varied opinions of the many characters, this one will likely leave its audience divided (though not in the quality of the production). So I won’t continue to drone on, just set your sights on this dramatic war thriller.