I had never heard of this movie when I started watching but I was pleasantly surprised. It is based on true accounts documented in diaries and published as a book.
I generally have a grudge towards traditional book movies because they try to convert a 20-hour book into a 90-minute movie; This in most cases turns out as a mess. This movie introduces 30 characters hand in hand with our main protagonist and expects us to feel for each of them. It succeeds mostly by utilising its plot to its advantage by profiling each character as part of a racial group in combat with each of the other groups. We don’t have any stake in which demographic or racial group wins this battle but rather have an interest in resolution. Other characteristics that bring me back to the book aspect of this film is the excessive use of inner dialogue rather than visual storytelling; There are so many other ways in which you can tell me a character is angry without me hearing their inner dialogue – lazy storytelling.
I find ‘based on true events’ movies to be extremely interesting but in most cases, it’s rather an emphasis on ‘based on’ rather than ‘true’. In all cases, the director has liberty in the storytelling and representation of the events but I prefer everything to be as raw as possible. This movie is a good middle starting and provides a narrative account of what I assume are the actual diary entries combined with a visual representation of the actual accounts. I would probably not watch it again, but I recommend it to someone looking for an emotional movie based on truth.
8/10