Director: Zal Batmanglij
Talent: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, Toby Kebbell
Release Date: June 28th
Co-writer Brit Marling stars as Sarah Moss, a disciplined young undercover investigator for a corporate-security firm assigned the task of infiltrating The East, an anarchist group that carries out revenge actions, or “jams,” against the greedy and irresponsible heads of large corporations. Moss soon finds herself being drawn into the crusty lifestyle of these dumpster-diving, eco-aware misfits. Adding to her growing sense of conflict is the obvious attraction she feels toward the group’s leader, Benji (Alexander Skarsgård). In a week that has witnessed shocking revelations about the lengths U.K. undercover police have gone to infiltrate anarchist networks, there is clearly a basis in reality for stories such as this, but The East skims the surface of such double-dealing and intrigue, choosing to float along on familiar genre conceits. For most of the film, Batmanglij sustains our interest in Moss’s conflicted position, but the last act is dramatically underpowered and the film peters out anticlimactically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htExHNNyRH8
