Directed by:
Zal BatmanglijCinematography:
Roman VasyanovCast:
Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Elliot Page, Toby Kebbell, Patricia Clarkson, Julia Ormond, Shiloh Fernandez, Aldis Hodge, Billy Magnussen, Jason Ritter (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
An undercover investigator's moral compass begins to change when she infiltrates an anarchist group responsible for targeting major corporations. When the CEOs of high profile companies find themselves the victims of a number of covert attacks, former FBI agent Sarah Moss (Brit Marling) is recruited by private intelligence firm Hiller Brood to gather information on 'The East', a shadowy eco-activist collective thought to be responsible. After finally managing to infiltrate the group, however, Sarah discovers her allegiances beginning to shift, as she increasingly begins to question the moral uncertainties of her life and finds herself falling under the spell of the group's charismatic leader Benji (Alexander Skarsgård). (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (2)
What was this supposed to be? An action movie shot artistically? An environmental drama with broader implications? I'm not sure what this film was trying to achieve, but I can say it didn't succeed in capturing my interest. Unpleasant characters that are hard to root for, coupled with an attempt to tell the world that people treat nature poorly. They do, but why do we have to hear about it in a movie that should primarily be action-packed? Or so it pretends. It’s an incredible mess that, I hope, won't become a mainstream affair, even though it seems to be another attempt at making films that aren't Hollywood-like. Why wasn't this made into a documentary?
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A year ago Batmanglij made a big splash with his indie début Sound of My Voice. It was a demanding film, but the reward was an experience that didn’t dampen your brain activity; quite the contrary, its ambiguity and vagueness encouraged you to participate more actively. So it’s such a disappointment that his second film, The East, is basically silly and simplistic environmentalist nonsense that arrives to the unoriginal and shallow conclusion that “conservationists are good, corporations are bad, but the struggle against them should not cross certain boundaries” only thanks to the very unconvincing behaviour of the characters (especially the scene with the deaf girl). One of the closing scenes (the apple in the basket) literally made roll on the floor laughing – and I’m afraid the creators meant it seriously.
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