Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Aaron Paul and Barkhad Abdi star in Gavin Hood’s (Tsotsi, Rendition) searing new thriller, screened at Toronto this year, which investigates the widespread use (and questionable morality) of drone warfare in conflicts by western governments.
Eye in the Sky focuses on a particular locale – a shanty town in Kenya where jihadi suicide bombers from terrorist group al-Shabaab are reportedly ensconced following the Nairobi shopping mall attack.
Helen Mirren plays a stern colonel stationed at an army base; Aaron Paul a drone pilot in Nevada; Alan Rickman a lieutenant in the midst of warring politicians and Barkhad Abdi, an agent on the ground in Kenya.
Guy Hibbert’s terse screenplay offers a glimpse of each character’s background through actions rather than words – showing us four individuals caught in the web of a much larger political game, and tasked with making abstract decisions with potentially horrifying real-life implications.It’s an overpoweringly effective and thought-provoking thriller about one of the most morally dubious activities of the modern age; seeking to exploit the very real drama inherent in the story without unnecessary showiness, and all the more effective for it.