EYE IN THE SKY
Dir: Gavin Hood (15, 102 mins)
A claustrophobic thriller that grips as it delves into the murky morality of drone warfare over the course of a one-day operation. The action flits between Helen Mirren’s hard edged military colonel at an army base in the UK, Aaron Paul’s drone pilot in Nevada, the late great Alan Rickman’s compromised military man dealing with rowing politicians, and Barkhad Abdi’s man on the ground in Kenya. The film sees all of them fret over what action they should take when key members of a terrorist unit are spotted. Do they capture or kill these potential suicide bombers? Should a fatal drone strike be called in despite the risk of civilian casualties? Plunged into the moral complexities of this sadly very current situation, the characters battle with their decisions, keeping you on the edge of your seat. Intelligent and engaging, Eye in the Sky succeeds over the likes of similar drone thriller Good Kill with its no frills script and direction.