Unthinkable: When Protest Goes Mainstream – and Falters
A less-than-successful attempt to inject mainstream cinema with a dose of protest sentiments.
Steven (Michael Sheen), a convert to Islam turned terrorist, has planted three nuclear bombs in three major American cities. Before he can detonate them, he’s apprehended. To discover the bombs’ locations, authorities bring in a torture specialist (Samuel L. Jackson) and an interrogation expert (Carrie-Anne Moss). The pair clash over the best method to extract the truth – brute force or psychological manipulation.
Gregor Jordan, known for his inclination towards protest literature, previously directed the adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ “The Informers.” His new film, “Unthinkable,” is heavily influenced by Naomi Klein’s work. It’s evident that Jordan has immersed himself in stories of the “Chicago Boys” and the CIA’s dark experiments. He attempts to subvert the classic “save America in N seconds (days, weeks, months)” trope, aiming for what marketers call a “pattern break.” However, “Unthinkable,” primarily composed of dialogues, feels more like a “play for reading.”
For much of the film, the audience is subjected not to action sequences, but to scenes of a ruthless interrogator brutalizing a captured terrorist, while an ethical FBI agent laments, “He’ll kill him, and we won’t learn anything!” Predictably, the plot culminates in philosophical debates about who bears greater responsibility for the loss of life – terrorists or the intelligence agencies. While this might resonate with Michael Moore and Naomi Klein, whose ideas find a cinematic outlet, conspiracy theories and shock doctrines often fare better on the printed page.
As demonstrated by Winterbottom’s adaptation of “The Shock Doctrine,” transferring these concepts to the screen can expose the underlying flaws in their construction. The film’s concept feels like a gamble, akin to a Russian filmmaker attempting a “Night Watch”-style movie, but drawing inspiration from the apartment bombings in 1999 and quoting Alexander Zinoviev. Even the final ten minutes, which revert to a more conventional thriller format, fail to redeem the overall impression.