"KILL TEAM" // TRIBECA 2019 REVIEW
Based on the 2013 documentary of the same name, THE KILL TEAM is a harrowing and cautionary tale of unbridled machismo, and a team of U.S. soldiers out of control. Writer-Director Dan Krauss’ retells his story for a feature, enlisting commanding performances by Alexander Skarsgård, playing a sociopathic squad leader, and Nat Wolff as the soldier whose point of view we see the world through. It’s not an easy watch, especially when you know it’s based on a true story, and if you’ve seen the documentary (which we reviewed HERE), then you know it’s sadly all true.
Wolff plays Andrew Briggman, a solider who’s completely taken aback by their new Staff Sergeant Deeks (Skarsgård). He’s not a warm type in the least. He’s worried about taking out anyone he deems a threat to him or his team, whether that person is on the enemy’s side or their own. Since Deeks is a calm, cool and collected he makes the awful things that he has his team do almost seem justified. Or perhaps it’s just the cost of war. He commends their actions with comments like, “Good hunting” and tells Briggman, “We kill people. That’s what we do.” Right and wrong start to mix, but there’s a constant nagging in the back of his head, telling him that the way they are treating the people in Afghanistan isn’t right, and the very dangerous and bloody ways that Deeks sees the world is something that has to be stopped.
The Kill Team is intense and horrible, but the filmmaking is fairly straight forward, so it doesn’t quite have the emotional impact that the documentary did. But it still does pack a punch, and just how the actual case created a real-life scandal, knowing that this behavior definitely exists is enough to make you sick. War is hell, and sometimes creates demons to do its bidding. This is the story of such a squad, and the disturbing turn of events that dug them out.
VERDICT: SEE IT
GRADE: B+
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Dan Krauss STARRING Nat Wolff, Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Long, Jonathan Whitesell, Brian "Sene" Marc, Rob Morrow. Playing as part of the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. For more information: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/kill-team-2019