The East

The East, the latest film from director Zal Batmanglij is a smart, timely, and creepy look inside the world of eco-terrorists/anarchists. This movie is has the power to frighten and educate as it runs through fictional events the group The East undertakes, like they could happen, and surprisingly a part of you may wish they did happen. Because of this, I give
The East three buckets of Killer Korn.






The East stars Brit Marling, who is just marginally talented in my opinion. If she were anyone other than who she is, she would probably never get any work which is why she's written three of the movies she's been in. There is nothing wrong with hiring yourself but what that says is no one else would have you. The last time I saw Brit was in Arbitrage with Richard Gere and he blew her off the screen, I forgot she was even in it. She was also in The Robert Redford dreadful picture The Company You Keep and I think she was Shia's potential love interest. What I'm saying is that she will not impress with her acting abilities. Her face is emotionless and her eyes are (for lack of a better word) dead, and she's that way in everything I've seen her in. However, her questionable skills serves her perfectly in this film, in the role of Jane/Sarah. Jane is an ambitious and rabid investigator for the investigation firm Hiller-Brood who is hoping for a chance to shine. Once a potential FBI agent, Jane chose to get a job in the private sector of investigations and she hopes to get the latest undercover assignment that's come up. She's got a car, a condo, a soft, submissive, passionless boyfriend, and a job she loves, she has it all.

That is, she thinks she has it all. Her little soft world is blown apart when she gets the assignment to go undercover and investigate the group known as The East. Her boss Sharon, played by the lovely Patricia Clarkson sends her in as Sarah, a runaway. She slowly makes inroads into that world through other runaways, homeless teens, and vagabonds until one incident where she steps in the way of a potential beating of one of the kids. Eventually she's brought to The East which is headed by Benji, played by Alexander Skarsgard and he is everything Jill's boyfriend back home isn't. He is intensely passionate, driven, compassionate, and a leader. She is drawn to him right away. Also in the group is Izzy, played with pure ferociousness by Ellen Page. She's second in command but you get the impression that Benji does nothing without Izzy's say so. There's also Doc who has a heartbreaking reason as to why he's part of the group, played by Toby Kebbell, the Iraq war veteran Thumbs, played by Aldis Hodge, super hacker Tess, played by Danielle McDonald, and lovable Luca, played by Shiloh Fernandez.

In the beginning of the movie, the group strikes at the home of the CEO of an oil company whose company just dumped fifteen million barrels of crude oil into the ocean. The East feels he needs to feel some of that pain so they break into his home and fill his central air and heating vents with oil. Oil pours out of every vent in the house, from the smallest to the largest as the east brings the oil spill home to the man they feel was responsible. It's that "jam" that puts them on the map and gets Jill sent in as Sarah. Sarah finds her way into the group in a particularly uncomfortable and somewhat disgusting way (especially if you can't abide by dumpster diving for food). She gets recruited into the groups next "jam" when Sarah runs off one of the members after they find her spying on the groups nocturnal woodland activities with her Blackberry. She takes the role and accompanies three of the members through the front door of a corporate pharmaceutical company which makes the "wonder drug" Diloxin. Other members get in through the back door posing as wait staff. The group knows the side effects well thanks to Doc, who was a real doctor until a fateful trip to Africa. The group poisons all who attend by slipping Diloxin into the champagne. Weeks later, the spokeswoman for the company is exhibiting the same side effects that killed someone close to Doc so the group views that "jam" as a success. The other "jams" are just as equally compelling.

The acting in The East is compelling, especially from Ellen Page. She is the fire in this movie and she carries it well. The production design is "homeless chic" and you get the sense that everyone involved in the movie felt strongly about the story they were telling. And for this being just his third film as a director, Zal Batmanglij did an exceptional job. This movie could have deteriorated into the cliché and given us the "obvious" ending, which we almost see coming thanks to one very unintentional comedic moment, but it doesn't. Instead, the movie stays true to it's core and that makes watching it a rewarding experience, even if Brit Marling can't really act. The music by Halli Cauthery and Harry Gregson-Williams was pitch perfect. Poignant enough at times without being to schmaltzy and just intense enough at others to drive the point home. It walked that fine line and it was a job well done. If you're looking for a smart film that isn't going to let you down or defy the laws of physics then I highly recommend The East, and I'll see you at the theater.