In his latest film “The Kill Team,” director Dan Krauss aims to tell a true story about a man of exemplary courage; a man who disclosed the killing of innocent Arabs in Afghanistan. Whether or not you side with Andrew Briggman in the film is beside the point. The point is that we are nothing without morals, though not all morals are created equal. And ‘Kill Team’ proves that it is a gallant war film that puts the audience in the middle of a ethical debate with no clear answers.
Making a movie like “The Kill Team” is itself a brave act, so to speak. Really, how many people would dare create a war movie without a lot of action? Everyone knows explosions sell tickets, even if the film, as a whole, isn’t marvelous. Going into a war film, that’s what today’s audiences pay to see. So, it’s refreshing when a director like Krauss doesn’t settle for rapid-fire action. His is a film about the inner casings of a shattered mind.
Andrew Briggman’s (Nat Wolff, terrific ) mind wasn’t always shattered. Before his departure, he was stoked to join the Army. He spends his days playing pretend in his room, making sound effects while holding a skateboard like an AK-47. Other times, he’s working out in preparation for duty. Like so many soldiers before him, it isn’t until he gets there that he realizes that combat is more than just fun and games
From the drone shots above, the base camp looks like a garbage dump in the middle of a desert. And it kind of is. It’s hard to imagine anyone surviving out there without sacrificing their mental health, which is what Briggman begins to experience. The mental deterioration isn’t because of the attacking heat wave, though. It’s because of Alexander Skarsgard’s Sergeant Deeks. An authoritarian mug with a porn-styled mustache and an endless amount of cliches as ammunition, Deeks rattles off statements like “we kill people, that’s what we do.” He also backs up his own words by killing the native Arabs. Those weeping families take a toll on Briggman and, not coincidentally, the audience.
What does someone do when they see something of significance? Go to social media! That’s how Briggman connects with his dad back in the states, and it’s how he gets into a psychological staring match with Deeks. “You kill one of them to save ten of us,” Deeks growls. The other soldiers have bought in. After seeing an innocent bystander’s head blown off, the battalion celebrates with “hoorahs!” and music. Yet, these are all good guys.
Unlike most anti-war parables, Klauss finds humanity in these soldiers, who all think they are doing what is right. They all are friendly towards the outcast (Briggman), but they also represent the horrific reality of what happens during wars.
This isn’t the first time the story from “The Kill Team” has been told. The Mayward District murders were a massive story in 2010 when Rolling Stone first covered them. Then they were chronicled in a talking-heads doc, similarly titled “The Kill Team,” in 2013, also directed by Krauss. This begs the question: do we need yet another dissection of these events? Much like the ethical arguments in the film, the answer isn’t as black and white as a simple yes or no.
This version of “The Kill Team” has none of the sophistication of “Full Metal Jacket,” none of the gut-wrenching moments of “Platoon,” and none of the poetry of “Beau Travail.” (The latter is a clear inspiration here. From its lyrical atmospherics to its sparring between two blank-faced men, Klauss must have had Claire Denis in mind.) What “The Kill Team” does have is suspense. When someone is hiding something, they tend to take things out of context. Once Briggman informs his father of the crimes, everyday questions about his family become suspicious. “You talk to your family recently?” his buddy Rayburn (Adam Long) inquires with a smirk. Do the others know? Is Deeks playing mind games? These questions keep you guessing for longer than you might expect, and they build to a climax that is expected, yet also surprising.
In the end, Krauss finds a way to present his paragon–the illogical rush to get in the field and the somber rush to get out of it– in a way that resonates with the viewer. Even if you don’t side with Briggman’s morals, Wolff’s empathetic performance, paired with the claustrophobic setting, makes him someone worth rooting for. The soldier’s mouth made him famous. Hopefully, word-of-mouth is enough to make “The Kill Team” a hit. [B-]
“The Kill Team” arrives in theaters and On Demand on October 25.
