Newsletters
Director Reed Van Dyk brought his Iraq War drama to the Toronto Film Festival.
The story follows a U.S. Marine trying to make amends with a family he harmed during a 2003 firefight; he noted that more than two decades later, he sees echoes of that history in today's Iran-U.S. tensions in the Middle East.
Succession actress Hiam Abbass explained that speaking up about the suffering of civilians, whether in Gaza, Kyiv, or elsewhere, isn't something she can avoid, saying it's simply part of who she is.
Abbass explained why she feels compelled to speak out, saying,
"I think I’m a person by my origins, by who I am, that is very, very aware to the suffering of people, and I cannot stand it. I cannot just be silent about it. And fortunately enough, I do a job that permits me to express my feelings as a person into the feelings of different characters to serve characters that have been going through injustice. To be able to tell their stories and to be able to tell their suffering and to be able to make people aware of their stories is something that I feel it’s almost like a a duty."
The film draws on a 2012 New Yorker piece by Dexter Filkins, which tells the story of a young Marine officer called Lou D'Alessandro in the film, based on the real Lu Lobello, who opens fire on a convoy during the early days of the Iraq invasion.
The shooting kills three members of a family (renamed Khachaturian for the film, Kachadoorian in reality) who were fleeing to their home for safety after a nearby relative's house had been bombed earlier that day.
More than a decade later, back in the U.S. and struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and panic attacks, D'Alessandro, played by Boyd Holbrook tracks down surviving members of the Khachaturian family, now living in Glendale, California, in hopes of making peace with them.
That effort culminates in the film's climactic scene, where D'Alessandro sits face-to-face with family matriarch Mariam Khachaturian, played by Hiam Abbass. Facilitating their reconciliation is journalist Michael Reid, a character based on Dexter Filkins and portrayed by Kenneth Branagh.
The Toronto Film Festival runs until Sept. 20.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
