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THE KILL TEAM (2019)
Director: Dan Krauss Cast: Nat Wolff, Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Long, Jonathan Whitesell, Brian Marc, Osy Ikhile, Rob Morrow, Anna Francolini MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:27 Release Date: 10/25/19 (limited; On Demand) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | October 24, 2019 With The Kill Team, writer/director Dan Krauss, making his narrative debut, dramatizes the background events at the core of his 2013 documentary of the same name. The documentary felt as if it was too close to its primary subject—a solider facing court-martial for murder while on active duty in Afghanistan—to be objective about the crime and why he may have acted as he did. This semi-adaptation, which ends before the trial commences, kind of confirms that suspicion. Indeed, protagonist Andrew Briggman (Nat Wolff), who comes to learn that members of his platoon are murdering Afghans and staging attacks to cover up the crimes, is portrayed as a terrified innocent—the victim of fear for his life. The movie, of course, is only "based on" the true events featured in the documentary, and the names of the real people have been changed here to assert the movie's existence as a work of fiction. As difficult as it may be to separate fact from fiction in this case (especially considering Krauss' earlier documentary and, with a text coda, a recap of what actually happened in reality), an effort must be made. Even as the fictional story of a young soldier—who wants to fit in and make something of himself—trying to determine if it's better to do what's right or to protect himself, Krauss' screenplay still runs into problems. The threat of Sergeant Deeks (Alexander Skarsgård, terrifying in his charming, mundane amorality), the officer who helps the young soldiers under his command get away with murder, feels real. So, too, does the desperation of those soldiers to cover up their crimes—even by violent means. What remains unconvincing, though, is Andrew's lack of or relatively low culpability in allowing these crimes to happen once he figures it out. To believe that story, one has to see him as naïve to the point of downright ignorance, insecure to the point of subservience, and morally conflicted to the point of cowardice. Even re-working this story as fiction, Krauss can't make a reasonable argument that his main subject is primarily a victim. The Kill Team does at least end on an ambiguous note about Andrew's own sense of guilt about what he could have done and didn't do, but that isn't and never has been the real question about these crimes. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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language throughout, violent content and drug use)
