What narrative war films struggle to comprehend is the perspective of the veterans on the front line. The terror, the anxieties, and the bonds of brotherhood along the way. With that being said, director Matthew Heineman is one of the few filmmakers who gets it right. War documentaries aside, in Heineman’s film “Cartel Land,” he examines a raw and emotional perspective of the ongoing drug problem via the U.S-Mexican border that is both haunting while also captivating. And his recent film, “The First Wave,” shows Heineman is not afraid to allow his hands to get dirty on the subject matter to portray them in the most honest and harrowing ways possible. These attributes, along with his stunning sense of realism within his cinematography, make him one of the filmmakers to place on film enthusiasts’ radar, especially with his upcoming work.
With this in mind, Matthew Heineman is back in the director’s chair with the documentary “Retrograde.” The documentary follows the daunting final nine months of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan but is told through multiple different lenses. One being from the few remaining U.S special operations units, another being from a young Afghan general ordering others to defend their homeland, and the civilians in Afghanistan as they struggle to flee their country as it slowly collapses in itself, and lastly being from the Taliban takeover. Heineman displays these events on a cinematic and historical approach with rare footage of control rooms and battles on the frontlines. The film promises to be an intimate and harrowing journey about the event while also displaying the cost of war can have on an individual.
“Retrograde” hits select theaters on November 11 and will launch on the National Geographic Channel on December 8, Disney+ on December 9, and Hulu on December 11. Watch the new trailer below.