Plot: Follows an American Marine who, years after a split-second decision during the Iraq War devastates an Iraqi family, seeks to reconcile with the family’s matriarch and confront the lasting consequences of his actions.
Review: For any of us who have only experienced war through film and television, there is nothing that we can understand that comes close to what those who fight in battle hold inside their minds. Nor can we truly grasp what it is like for civilians living with the threat of bombs and gunfire around them at any time can do to the human mind. While films about the fallout of war have existed since the dawn of the medium, there have been increasingly more opportunities to look beyond the battlefield to what happens afterward. Reed Van Dyk’s film Atonement looks at the New York Times article of the same name and follows a soldier whose impulsive and reactionary decision completely destroys one family. With a reporter chronicling the story, the soldier tries to make amends and seek forgiveness for actions that many would deem unforgivable. Atonement is a hard movie to watch and one that features standout performances from Boyd Holbrook, Kenneth Branagh, and Hiam Abbass.
Broken into chapters, Atonement opens in 2003 with the Khachaturian family going about their lives living in a multigenerational household in Iraq. Mariam Khachaturian (Hiam Abbass), her husband, children, and grandchildren are having an average day when a bomb caves in one of their walls as battle rages between American forces and those of Saddam Hussein. Piling into cars, the family flees and inadvertently drives directly into open fire between the armies. Soldier Lou D’Alessandro (Boyd Holbrook) continues shooting as he assumes the two vehicles are enemy combatants. By the time Marian waves a white flag, the damage is done, and three members of the Khachaturian family are dead. New York Times reporter Michael Reid (Kenneth Branagh) interviews Mariam and Lou separately. The film then jumps a decade later with Lou dishonorably discharged and working multiple low-level jobs as he tries to get into law school and deal with the ghosts of his actions in Iraq. Suffering from PTSD, Lou almost hits bottom before he comes to the realization that he needs help beyond what his girlfriend, Anna (Yara Bakri), can give him. The film then shifts another year-and-a-half as Michael Reid reenters the picture to document the meeting of Lou and the Khachaturian family in California.
Shot in an almost documentary style on 16 mm film, Atonement is a very quiet film. It seems out of place to call a war film quiet, but outside of the opening scenes of the film with the gunfire and explosions taking place in Iraq, much of the film is conversation. Some of these focus on a support group for veterans that Lou is a part of, with different soldiers sharing their trauma and experiences from battle, along with their significant others and friends exploring their emotions on the receiving end of that explosion of anger, frustration, and grief. Seeing the different sides to the story follows Lou’s statement midway through the film that, while only he can forgive himself, he feels a debt to explain what happened even if he knows it doesn’t change the outcome. In many of these moments, Kenneth Branagh plays Michael Reid as a silent observer who notes what is happening even though he becomes a participant in the story as it unfolds. The heavier lifting falls to Hiam Abbass and Boyd Holbrook, who each have to anchor their sections of the story before they come face to face. Atonement does not treat their eventual meeting as a battle or a clash, even though the opening of the film makes it seem like that is where it could be headed.
Atonement wants the audience to see both sides of the story and how forgiveness means something different to the victim as opposed to the perpetrator. Boyd Holbrook digs deeply into the psychological spiral that many soldiers suffer from after returning to civilian life. While substance abuse is mentioned. It doesn’t actively happen on screen, but we do see the depression and the self-loathing that have become his entire world. Hiam Abbass, who was exceptionally underused in HBO’s Succession, is equally great in Atonement. Mariam and her family are Orthodox Christians and hold true to the words of their faith and believe in forgiving your enemy, but every scene shows the weight of this absolution and the struggle with letting go. Abbass does more without saying a word in this movie than any other actor, and it is a signature performance for her. Kenneth Branagh is good, as always, but his character is more of an avatar rather than a vital part of the story. Newcomer Gheed plays Mariam’s daughter, Nora, and Yara Bakri’s performance as Anna are impressive supporting turns in this tale.
Director Reed Van Dyk won the Academy Award for his live-action short, DeKalb Elementary, in 2017 and brings a similar documentary feel to this story. While elements of the story have been changed, mostly the real New York Times reporter’s name has been changed from Dexter Filkins to Michael Reid, and Lu Lobello is now Lou D’Allesandro. Van Dyk’s screenplay uses abrupt editing to separate the stories of Lou, Michael, and Mariam, with the chapters meant to shift our perspective from one to another. This, coupled with the 16mm film stock, gives Atonement a very realistic feel and a much more intimate and private tone than I had expected. Atonement was nominated for the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and deservedly so. From Iraq to California, there is a feel to the entire film that blurs the line between documentary and narrative, with only the recognizable faces of Kenneth Branagh, Boyd Holbrook, and Hiam Abbass telling you that this is not a true document of the events. That is an impressive achievement for Reed Van Dyk that helps make Atonement feel more impactful in the story it has to tell, even if it doesn’t do much beyond present the events. There is little analysis or insight to pull together what he is trying to say about war and its repercussions.
Atonement is a solid feature debut for Reed Van Dyk. By placing us into three very different vantage points and looking at how war tears people and families apart, Atonement gives a unique perspective on something that many of us, thankfully, will ever have to deal with. While some of the visuals do offer a documentary feel that adds to the realism of this film, the real heavy lifting here is on the three main actors. At just under two hours, the film is really leading up to that final act where we see everybody meet face-to-face. This is not a movie about fiery, stage-like drama but it’s still one of the most emotionally resonant scenes in a film this year. In fact, the final scene of Atonement gives you a lot to think about after the movie ends. While Hiam Abbass is the standout and Boyd Holbrook offers one of his performances to date, Atonement benefits from Kenneth Branagh‘s name recognition more than anything. While he is as good as always, Atonement could have worked better without such a famous face pulling from the realism of the tale. Atonement is a good movie about a difficult subject that makes it accessible without being patronizing or condescending. A powerful story that is worth watching.
Atonement is now playing in theaters.
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