Rent The Kill Team (2019)

The Kill Team review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

How easy is it to do the right thing when you have no power? That’s the harsh question asked in Kill Team, a fictionalized dramatization of the events that led up to the Maywand District murders. A U.S. Army recruit finds himself in the toughest of spots during the war in Afghanistan. How far is too far for fighting back against the enemy?

The recruit is Andrew Briggman (Nat Wolff), a soldier who has seen some darkness in this war. He has watched as his superior was killed in the field amid what felt like a fairly tame sweep of a town. Such a loss has painted his platoon with much caution and fear. Aiming to raise that morale is the newest hire of Sergeant Deeks (Alexander Skarsgård). Deeks runs a looser ship by keeping his men happy and free of consequence. He also encourages more aggression than one would expect.

Deeks makes his soldiers feel more inclined to gun down civilians they may suspect of being terrorists. It doesn’t matter if they are or are not. To men like Deeks, the Afghanis are all the same. Anyone who thinks differently in the platoon will find themselves facing a strict punishment from Deeks. This leads to Briggman feeling trapped, as though there’s no way to form a conscience when approached with immoral orders. After all, if Deeks is willing to cover up the murders of civilians, who is to say he won’t do the same with his own soldiers?

Rather than just be a full dramatization of the Maywand District murders, which director Dan Krauss already did with a documentary of the same title, this film tries to find the introspective dread that came with the situation. We spend the entire film with Briggman, sympathizing with his plight of wanting to do the right thing in a situation where that may not be possible. He contemplates telling his family back home but hopes to do so in secrecy so the Sargent won’t notice. He hopes to keep this a secret but the nightmares persist of what will happen to Briggman if he speaks up. And then there’s the tensest of moments where Briggman is forced by Deeks into shooting an unarmed civilian for no reason at all.

There’s relief and karma by the end of the picture when Deeks is finally discovered for his atrocities and is tried for them. We don’t see the trial as the film ends right at the point of accusation, where a flustered Deeks all but begs for Briggman to keep his mouth shut. Based on how the Maywand District murders case unfolded, we can assume that Briggman told all. But, wow, what a cost to his soul it was to survive this long and reveal the inhuman actions that come about in war.

The Kill Team is a stirring enough military drama that features some solid performances and makes for the juiciest of material to munch on morally and mentally. It treats the war in Afghanistan as a tricky and dangerous ordeal, where tough decisions are made in the field. And the choices only get more complex when questioning your own actions and your superiors. This is some first-rate drama that manages to be critical of the war in a deeply powerful way.