Navy SEAL's invade Osama bin Laden's Pakistani fortress in "Zero Dark Thirty." Photo by Jonathan Olley.
Having heard some rumblings of controversy and seen trailers implying that it is mostly about the incredibly intense moments leading up to the discovery and assassination of Osama bin Laden, if I had any expectations going into Zero Dark Thirty it was that the film would be a patriotic thriller offering a sense of national pride. Though it’s hard not to rally behind the efforts of Maya (Jessica Chastain), Dan (Jason Clarke) and the other CIA agents who tirelessly strive to find the man responsible for (among other things) the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Zero Dark Thirty is a lot more than just an action-packed manhunt.
After being assigned to work alongside Dan at a Pakistani prison where a detainee is broken down through torturous tactics such as having buckets of water poured over his face until he almost drowns, being pulled around on a dog leash and being stuffed into a box barely big enough to hold him, Maya quickly becomes hardened by the harsh realities of war and interrogation. As if she wasn’t already determined enough, her steadfast obsession with locating and killing bin Laden only grows stronger when this inhumanely-treated prisoner named Ammar (Reda Kateb) reveals the name of bin Laden’s personal courier. Maya is convinced that finding this courier will lead her directly to bin Laden, so she spends the next several years of her young career tracking him down.
Jessica Chastain plays Maya, the young CIA agent determined to find bin Laden in "Zero Dark Thirty." Photo by Jonathan Olley.
The first two acts of the film involve Maya and her team tirelessly investigating any lead they can find until most of their colleagues are ready to give up the search to focus on finding sleeper cells outside of Afghanistan (especially as terrorist attacks continue). But after several years (including the loss of colleagues and attempts on her own life), Maya finally catches the break she’s been looking for when Dan (now a tie-wearing desk-jobber in D.C.) bribes his way to the phone number of the courier’s mother. After what seems like a wild goose chase that will never end, the suspected courier is finally discovered driving into a heavily-protected compound that seems like just the type of fortress in which bin Laden might sequester himself. The back-and-forth between Maya and her higher-ups becomes increasingly discouraging because most of them are hesitant to move forward with infiltrating this compound due to the uncertainty of bin Laden’s presence there. But Maya seems to have a sixth sense about the situation and assures them that bin Laden is inside.
Navy SEALs use night vision goggles to infiltrate bin Laden's compound. Photo by Jonathan Olley.
Her confidence is what wins the dedication of a group of Navy SEALs led by Patrick (Joel Edgerton), who agree to sneak into Pakistan using stealth helicopters from Area 51 that technically don’t exist. And this is where the tension that has been building throughout the entire film comes to its exciting conclusion as these helicopters enter Pakistan through the cover of night and the soldiers’ extensive military training kicks in. As one group of SEALs works its way through the compound with machine-like precision and efficiency, Hakim (Fares Fares), who has been an instrumental part of the operation since Maya’s quest to find the courier began, has to keep the locals at bay as they begin to gather in the nearby streets to find out what is happening.
Since this film is based on an important piece of history that occurred in 2011, the fact that the SEALs pick off all the adults in the compound and eventually get bin Laden is no surprise. What is somewhat shocking, however, is how Maya and her team obtain this victory. Having relied on torture in the early stages of her hunt, she quickly goes from looking like a fresh and innocent new agent to someone capable of any sort of manipulation in order to achieve her goal. This is a quality that is both unsettling and admirable, and Chastain adeptly navigates the transformation like a war-hardened soldier on a stealthy mission amidst a cast of potential show stealers including Mark Strong, Jennifer Ehle and James Gandolfini. And given the heinous crimes against bin Laden and the rest of al-Qaeda, as well as the potential for even more massacres if they are not found and stopped, Maya’s by-any-means-necessary approach is understandable, if unrelatable. And the emotionally solitary closing scene reveals the toll these stressful few years have taken on her, as well as the satisfaction she feels in knowing that it is finally all over.
