The Kill Team

Krauss packs a lot into what could be read as a prequel for his documentary, creating a brutal war on terror picture with a timely context.

The Kill Team serves an essential function by illustrating in agonizing detail not only how easily morality can be subjugated to hate, but how important it is for people of conscience to do the right thing. It’s deeply uncomfortable viewing at times, but it’s no less necessary a story to experience.

Those familiar with this story won’t find any novel twists here, but Krauss astutely conveys the literal and moral quagmires produced by such military situations.

The big and small screens have been awash in military features and documentaries since 9/11, and there’s not a lot to The Kill Team that qualifies as new or surprising. But a decent level of suspense and the genuine dread Skarsgård casts, like a shadow, inform it and make it stand out in a genre that may not outlive America’s endless military involvement in that corner of the world.

Its depiction of toxic masculinity and bloodthirstiness within the U.S. Army is blunted by an overly passive lead performance and a lack of specificity in its storytelling.

While the leads are credible, the filmmaking (including a hacky score) adds a sheen of macho familiarity to a narrative that was eerily matter-of-fact in doc form.

Krauss digs into the murky, uneasy morality of wartime, but The Kill Team doesn’t quite convey the brutality of these crimes with the same power that news accounts or even Krauss’ own documentary have.

The Kill Team is an intense thriller about a soldier who is roped into a situation that he never could have anticipated before he joined the military. What can a young soldier do when his squad mates begin to murder civilians? The feeling of hopelessness is palpable at times, and the director does a great job of building tension over the course of the entire film. And, really, the tension building is what saves this film from missing the mark entirely. This is a dramatization of the 2013 documentary of the same name, and the documentary remains the better film out of the two. This isn't a complicated story. It's pretty clear cut what happens and how it came to be. With that being said, this year's dramatization of the story feels very...thin. We hit each of the main points of the story (he joins the military, tries to impress, and then the killings happen) and then before you know ****'s over. It also doesn't touch much on the actual brutality that is being shown. It doesn't have anything to say about it. It just shows it. Like I said, the tension between Briggman, his sergeant, and the rest of his squad is what helps it cross the finish line. I still think it's worth the watch if you've seen the documentary and are curious about the adaptation, or if you're a fan of military films in general. But if you are going to watch either the dramatization or the documentary, just watch the documentary.

The film isn't bad but I think that when dealing with such a serious subject, the dramatization seems to diminish its strength. I'm definitely more interested in looking for the documentary that bears the same name of this film because I read that it's much more competent. Nothing special for A24 but I can recommend it and I should definitely mention that this is the best performance I've seen from Nat Wolff so far. Nothing spectacular but it certainly he does things right.

Based on real events, The Kill Team is supposed to show a dark blemish of the Afghan Invasion by the United States. Manipulated and enabled by a Sergeant that condones committing war crimes as if it is justified, several young soldiers commit murder on innocent afghan villagers. Among this squad of soldiers, Specialist Briggman feels trapped as he is aware of the murders, but feels threatened by his Sergeant and squad mates. What is supposed to be a dark war drama, unfortunately comes off as a rather amateurish attempt at creating tense atmosphere. Scenes that are supposed to make you feel uncomfortable don't deliver much except stretched out exposition, and the main character doesn't come across as stressed or scared, but rather oblivious. The movie is a slow burner with little to no peaks in tension, and after 105 minutes the movie ends without much of a climax. Unfortunately this leaves a rather underwhelming after taste. I give this movie a 5/10.

(Mauro Lanari) "War movie, but not too much, thriller, without ever exceeding, and distorted formation novel. Many identities for 'The Kill Team', unfortunately not enough coagulated in a single, powerful story. It turns out, instead, from this mix, a paradox: the multifacetedness of the film is its weak point" (Andrea Giovalè).