The first real must see of 2019.

It's powerful, painful viewing, providing real insight to the utter terror these attacks must induce in those who suffer through them.

SPOILERS

Focusing primarily on the attack at the Taj Hotel, we open on a group of young men, with an overlay from an unseen coordinator instructing them to commit the Mumbai terror attacks. There is a dizzying, hypnotic nature to the scene. Young boys being sent out to commit murder on behalf of much older men; their own 'agents of chaos', if you will. The movie doesn't paint the attackers as evil per se; they are largely presented as an unthinking, blank canvas.

You will be deeply terrorised by the shootings. Through excellent direction and camera work, you see these attackers methodically spray bullets with unerring accuracy. You will feel like you're there in the room. The dichtomoy of the innocence of youth (the attackers are referred to as "just young boys" in one scene) and their seasoned menace is drawn out perfectly. Again, this is reinforced by the unseen coordinator, who essentially quarterbacks the attack; again, we visit the blank canvas theme. Providing continued reassurance of the merit of the mission, directing the action to take 'western hostages', and assuring the attackers of the recognition and spoils they will receive in death, ithe subtext is of puppets on a string.

Although unquestioning of their mission commander, once one of the attackers is shot - and aware the end is nigh - he reaches out to his family to check on a cash payment for his participation, which they are due to receive (although it's never explicitly stated the family are aware of the attack itself); with this, we see a different potential angle; the mercenary. This poses an awful lot of geopolitical questions, but the filmmakers are shrewd enough to ask the questions without providing any answers. This is not a movie with a political message.

When they do tackle the inevitable reactions attacks like this bring ('all Muslims are complicit'), the film deals with it extremely well; in the scene between Dev Patel and the woman feeling threatened by 'the other', we see her perspective is based on fear, as opposed to hate. This hints at the ineffectiveness of communication on this very real issue in reality.

The staff accounted for half of the casualties in this atrocity, and the cast do a beautiful job of paying tribute to their heroism. Dev Patel, in particular, is utterly sensational. This is in the category of an award winning performance. Unfortunately, his performance appears to be receiving very little recognition.

This is a lean, extremely taut movie, wasting barely a moment. The direction is best in class. The contrast between the brutality of the attacks and the human engagement is perfectly balanced.

As the attacks come to a conclusion, we see the attackers, who have been the hunters throughout, become the hunted; at this point, they start to experience the terror they have wrought. They cower with the indignant rebellion of youth; they regress to a child-like state. Rebellion mixed with fear.

Go watch this.