TL;DR – A solid action film that knows how to craft tension from its narrative and musical score.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this film.

The Covenant Review –

When it comes to war films, the more straightforward the narrative, the defined sides, and the motivations, the more likely a movie will be made. This is why there are more WW2 films than, say, Vietnam. In modern times, it has been a struggle to depict the war in Afghanistan, with the gung-ho narrative falling flat, given how easily the Taliban retook the country back. Any film exploring this terrain needs to work through a myriad of complexities. Which is what the movie we are looking at today at least attempts.     

So to set the scene, in the aftermath of 9/11, America invaded Afghanistan in 2001. It is now March 2018 in Lashkar Gah. Where Master Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal), Staff Sergeant Charlie ‘Jizzy’ Crow (Sean Sagar), Joshua ‘JJ’ Jung (Jason Wong), Jack’ Jack Jack’ Jackson (James Nelson-Joyce), Sergeant First Class Kawa Mawlayee (Kawa Mawlayee), Eduardo’ Chow Chow’ Lopez (Christian Ochoa Lavernia), Tom’ Tom Cat’ Hancock (Rhys Yates), are all inspecting vehicles at a checkpoint, when one of the trucks explodes. Returning to Bagram Air Base, they pick up their new interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim). Their team is meant to be looking for Taliban weapon caches or IED factories, but after striking out the official way, they start taking unofficial measures, which is when things turn sideways.