Review of The Kill Team (2019) by Grantd243 — 30 Oct 2019

The Kill Team is an intense thriller about a soldier who is roped into a situation that he never could have anticipated before he joined the military. What can a young soldier do when his squad mates begin to murder civilians? The feeling of hopelessness is palpable at times, and the director does a great job of building tension over the course of the entire film. And, really, the tension building is what saves this film from missing the mark entirely.

This is a dramatization of the 2013 documentary of the same name, and the documentary remains the better film out of the two. This isn't a complicated story. It's pretty clear cut what happens and how it came to be. With that being said, this year's dramatization of the story feels very...thin. We hit each of the main points of the story (he joins the military, tries to impress, and then the killings happen) and then before you know it...it's over. It also doesn't touch much on the actual brutality that is being shown. It doesn't have anything to say about it. It just shows it. Like I said, the tension between Briggman, his sergeant, and the rest of his squad is what helps it cross the finish line. I still think it's worth the watch if you've seen the documentary and are curious about the adaptation, or if you're a fan of military films in general. But if you are going to watch either the dramatization or the documentary, just watch the documentary.