Eye in the Sky

[projekktor id=’23520′]

Eye in the Sky is a war drama directed by Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ender’s Game). The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and stars Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, and Barkhad Abdi.

Eye in the Sky stars Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell, a UK-based military officer in command of a top-secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” But as American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of US and British government over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare.

“As a director I am drawn to the fact that the film raises timely and complex questions about the role of armed drones as tools for the extra judicial execution of anyone suspected of terrorism or extremism,” explains Hood. “The propaganda cost to Western moral credibility as a result of drone attacks – given the inevitable deaths of innocent civilians – is already the subject of heated debate. The psychological toll on young RPA pilots, sensor operators and image analysts – who live at home but whose work “at the office” involves the remotely targeted killing of fellow human beings – is high. The loss of life to innocent civilians sacrificed as “collateral damage” is unspeakably tragic – and arguably illegal under international law. Indeed, those involved in targeted killings may even be guilty of war crimes.”

Eye in the Sky is rated 14A.