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FILM: EYE IN THE SKY
After tracking a British citizen-turned-terrorist for six years, Colonel Katherine Powell (Academy Award winner Helen Mirren) finally corners her target in Kenya with the help of high-tech American drone surveillance. As Special Forces troops close in, the discovery of plans for a pair of imminent suicide bombings turns an intended capture into a mission to kill. But just as the Las Vegas-based drone pilot (Emmy Award winner Aaron Paul) prepares to launch a powerful Hellfire missile at the safe house, a nine-year-old girl is spotted in the kill zone, sparking an international debate at the highest levels of government about whether saving one child’s life is worth the almost certain death of hundreds of others. Meanwhile, a local operative (Academy Award nominee Barkhad Abdi) risks everything to try and get the girl to safety.

Taking place in near real-time across four continents, ‘Eye in the Sky’ is a white-knuckle thriller that tackles the moral ambiguities of modern-day warfare head on.

Following on from his 2007 film ‘Rendition’, Gavin Hood, the South African filmmaker who counts the likes of ‘Ender’s Game’ (2013), ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ (2009) and ‘Tsotsi’ (2005) among his directing credits, returns to the realm of contemporary warfare with this tense thriller, which explores both the practical application and the ethical ramifications of remotely piloted drone warfare.

“I was aware of all the different aspects of drone warfare,” begins Hood, “because I’d made a film about American military adventures with ‘Rendition’. I’d read articles, I’d read opinions and I’d read books. I had always tried to keep up-to-date with what was happening in the American military, but I hadn’t taken a deep dive into this very specific question of targeted assassination.”

The opportunity to explore this highly contentious aspect of modern warfare came when Hood read the ‘Eye in the Sky’ script from screenwriter Guy Hibbert, who had written the films ‘Five Minutes of Heaven’ (2009), ‘Omagh’ (2004) and ‘Shot Through the Heart’ (1998) as well as contributing to a number of highly acclaimed British television series.

“‘Kill Chain’ was my original title for the film,” notes Hibbert. “Through centuries of warfare, the general in the field has always been in command of the decision whether to shoot or not to shoot. With computerized warfare, images are now sent to everybody’s desktop all over the world, and all these different people want input.

“The military call this the kill chain and that poses important questions. Who has the power to make that decision, to press that button? Is it the politicians, or the general in London, or the general in the US, or the commander in Kenya? The people about to be killed in our story include a Kenyan, two Brits and an American, so who makes the decision?”

The decision to destroy the targets is further complicated by the problem of collateral damage, which again has to be measured from afar.

“We see how profoundly human emotions are tested in a difficult scenario. Then, with the audience being made aware of the process, we can begin to debate the merits of using this technology,” adds Hood.

CAST: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi, Jeremy Northam, Iain Glen, Phoebe Fox, Monica Dolan
DIRECTOR: Gavin Hood