The last time filmmaker Andrew Niccol explored the nature of modern warfare, it was in the cult fave "Lord Of War," which detailed the wheelings and dealings of an arms dealer with a broken moral compass. But these days, why bother with guns on the ground when you can rain down bullets and missiles from the sky? And what are the consequences of targeting our enemies from thousands of miles away while sitting behind a desk, flying drones like they were in a PlayStation game? Those are the questions Niccol takes on in "Good Kill," his third movie with Ethan Hawke, and the first international trailer is here.
Co-starring January Jones, Bruce Greenwood and Zoe Kravitz, the movie follows an Air Force major who now pilots drones twelve hours a day, taking on his targets from a computer screen. But the toll begins to weigh on the soldier as he questions his unending mission and struggles to find its purpose. And while the movie features a very strong performance from Hawke, our review from the Venice Film Festival noted the ending undoes the complexities of the film, and "entirely sells out the subtlety and the gray-area approach that it has taken so carefully up till then. In fact, it hints, horrifyingly, that playing God may have actually been the right thing to do."
"Good Kill" will be released by IFC Films, but there’s no date just yet. Watch below.