Outside the Wire

Released 15th January 2021, Outside the Wire follows shamed soldier Thomas Harp as he follows a bionic Captain Leo into enemy territories. Whilst not based on a true story, this film feels like a faithful interpretation of what warfare is heading towards and even manages to confront current warfare standards to a powerful extent. Lt Thomas Harp is a drone pilot and the film decides to express how impersonal warfare becomes with soldiers acting behind a computer screen; the editing directly conveys this with cuts from relaxing behind a drone screen to shouting and gunfire in the battlefront. As well as this, the film also challenges how wars are often led by agenda and also a more in depth look into the threat of AI.

Anthony Mackie is great as Captain Leo; his natural sense of humour translates well to his character and he is also really emotive when he has to be. Damson Idris gives a solid performance of alt Thomas Harp; there are poignant scenes where his reactions really enhance the atmosphere and make you feel for his character. However, as much as he presents the incompetence of a soldier, he doesn’t really do much practically until the third act; a choice which defeats the engagement with the character and the themes quite frequently. Emily Beecham and Pilot Asbæk are fine as neutral informant Sofiya and terrorist Victor Koval. They mostly act as anyone else does with the archetypes; same goes for all of the military personnel.

Loren Balfe also provides a serviceable but unmemorable soundtrack which serves its purpose but little else. The visual effects are generally well done with nothing sticking out as jarring. More than anything else, the film simply feels that it sacrificed points of logic in the film at the expense of its intriguing themes and messages. Overall the film has a solid foundation but begins to wobble as it tries to build off of them.