eliasrafael

Let's start with the good points. The story has no plot holes, and paints the picture of a civilian who is pulled into the war due to a personal trauma. The main actor does his job quite well, although the script does not give him much room in the second half of the film. And the location shots have some quality with regards to a restricted budget.

But overall I found the whole movie very boring and uninspired. The script tries to combine a text book hero story similar to classic 80ties action movies with the claim to be based on authentic events. Well, this mix combines the worst of two worlds and the result is very shallow. As soon the movie loses interest in its main character who found his mission the movie shows the ever the same sniper scenes. It might be realism, but it's just dull to watch. There is no much variety in scenes and the movie continues fron Sniper scene to Sniper scene. The Russians are not "evil" enough to be a real threat for the viewer, and the the movie doesn't take time for its characters on the Ukrainian side. The lack of another layer which may have added some complexity to the story is not helping here.

If you want a realistic story with a good set of characters and a flow it can be done much better, movies like Hurt Locker or Mosul have shown it.

The movie captured some media interest in Germany when it was screened in Venice film festival but was also critisised by leftists focussing on the childish and psychotic behaviour of the antifascist group. So I was at least curious. Well, the movie doesn't live up to expectations. The story is a bit dull and I had a hard time to follow it. Shooting and edit is not bad but the visual side also failed to hold up my interest. On the positive side I think the acting is at least authentic and the movie lacks the usual dose of policial indoctrination.