‘The East’ Is A Tense Eco Thriller About Infiltrating Fight Club’s Project Mayhem [Sundance 2013 Review]
By Peter Sciretta/Jan. 22, 2013 7:00 am EST
This movie looks fantastic, but the screenplay by Brit and Zal is what impressed me the most. Almost every scene involves a twist which furthers the plot into a new direction. Exposition and set-up is accomplished cleverly with visuals, when other movies would have done so in dialogue. The tension builds to a point where you’ll be holding your breath on the edge of your seat. I also loved the inclusion of a deaf character, which results in a really cool moment told through sign language.
If I have any complaint, its that in a quest to keep their missions personal The East encounters a job which turns into a scene I would expect more from a big Hollywood movie than a smart indie. Its nothing too groan-worthy, it just feels a bit out of place compared to the rest of the film. The Ridley Scott influence is felt in the screenplay and in the style, most notably the end credits sequence.
While The East skews more conventional and mainstream than most Sundance films, its rare that we get a tense thriller that provides some deeper interesting topical discussion.
/Film Rating: 8 out of 10
