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Good Kill | 2015 | R | - 6.6.10

Based on actual events: After serving several tours of duty a fighter pilot (Ethan Hawke) is assigned stateside to drone duty, where he is given targets and he and his team blow them up remotely. He longs to fly again and struggles over the legitimacy of the targets he's being given. Also with Bruce Greenwood, Jake Abel, Ryan Montano, Dylan Kenin, Stafford Douglas, Zion Rain Leyba, January Jones, Sachie Capitani, Michael Sheets and Zoë Kravitz. Directed by Andrew Niccol. [1:42]

SEX/NUDITY 6 - We watch on a monitor as a man hits a woman with a gun and rapes her (no nudity is visible; please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). We watch on a monitor as an armed man punches a woman in the stomach knocking her to the ground and then rapes her (we see thrusting and her bare leg).
 A wife is shown moving rhythmically on top of her husband in bed (we see his bare-chest and she is wearing a negligee that reveals cleavage and bare shoulders) as he lies very still. A husband and his wife kiss and sex is implied. A wife wearing a short negligee that reveals cleavage, shoulders and bare legs climbs into bed with her husband and she kisses his neck; the husband gets out of bed and sex is not implied.
 Women wearing skimpy outfits (cleavage, bare abdomens and legs are shown) are seen dancing on a stage in a bar. A woman wears a short and low-cut dress that reveals cleavage, bare shoulders, back and legs to the thighs.
 A husband kisses his wife's face and they hug. A man stands very close to a woman and they seem like they are going to kiss, but do not. A husband and his wife lie in bed together (he is wearing a tank top that reveals his bare shoulders and upper chest and she is wearing a negligee that reveals her cleavage and bare shoulders). A younger woman makes a suggestive remark to an older man.
 A man in a bar asks other men, "Who's up for a lap dance?" A man talks about the advantages of remote warfare and that it means that they can have sex with their wives and not worry about anyone else trying to take their place. A man talks about having had sex in every room of the house with his wife. A man says, "Getting some foreign tail." A man talks about "intoxication and intercourse." A man talks about "Hustler and Hooters."

VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - We see a missile launched and watch on a monitor as it strikes in the middle of a group of men standing on a road (we assume that all the men are killed, but see no blood or body parts). A missile is launched and we see on a monitor a car with several armed men explode (we see rubble and flames). A missile is launched and we watch on a monitor as two children run into the strike zone; we see the explosion and the two children lying on the ground (one child has a pool of blood around his head). A missile is launched and we watch on a monitor as a building explodes, followed by many bystanders with shovels digging through the rubble; another missile is launched killing the bystanders and a drone pilot reports that there were 12 people killed. A missile is launched into a group identified as Al Qaeda and we see all the men dead on a monitor (no blood is visible). We watch on a monitor as a US military troop is blown up by an IED; everyone falls to the ground. We watch a missile strike on a monitor and we understand that there are 7 people, including women and children in the house; we then see another missile strike the people gathered at the funeral. We watch on a monitor as a missile strike kills a man and when the dust clears we see a woman lying on the ground also (she gets up and appears OK).
 We watch on a monitor as an armed man enters a compound where he strikes a woman in the face with his gun, then pulls up her skirt and rapes her against a wall (no flesh is visible), and then strikes her across the face and she falls to the ground; the same man rapes the same woman another time as we watch on a monitor; he punches a woman in the stomach knocking her to the ground and then rapes her.
 A husband and his wife argue bitterly and she says, "Hit me"; he slams her against a wall, and then leaves angrily. A husband yells at his wife and shoves her head. We watch protestors burning American flags in Yemen. A man runs a red light and is pulled over by a police officer; the officer lets him go, but it is obvious that the man is drunk. A man struggles with guilt after accidentally killing two children with a drone strike. A man throws a bottle of alcohol at a CCTV camera in a package store. A man drinks alcohol from a bottle while sitting in his car outside a mosque. A man yells at his subordinate and accuses him of "Failure to comply with a lawful order."
 A drone pilot says, "We are killing people." A man says, "If we capture them, we have to torture them." A woman yells at her young son and she tells her husband that the boy was fighting with someone at school and that he is flunking math. A man says that he did six tours in Afghanistan. A man asks another man if he is religious and he does not reply. A man says, "I miss the fear."
 We watch a man on a monitor urinating against a wall (we see the wall stain with urine).

LANGUAGE 10 - About 50 F-words, 4 sexual references, 14 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 10 mild obscenities, name-calling (bleeding heart, burnout, punk, Jane Fonda, candy [anatomical term deleted], coward), 5 religious profanities (GD), 6 religious exclamations (e.g. Godforsaken, Jesus, I Swear To God, God Is Great, Jesus Christ).

SUBSTANCE USE - A commanding officer says of a remote pilot that he tested positive for cocaine use. A commanding officer pours two whiskeys in his office and gives one to his subordinate, people drink beers at a cookout, a man drives drunk and runs a red light, a man and a woman drink beers, a woman drinks a glass of wine, people drink alcohol in a bar, a man drinks from a bottle of liquor hidden in his bathroom in the morning, a man drinks alcohol from a bottle while sitting in his car, a husband tells his wife that she is drunk, a man drinks alcohol while driving to work, a man talks about "intoxication and intercourse," and a man pours a bottle of liquor into a toilet. We see a man on a monitor smoking a cigarette, men chew chewing tobacco, a man smokes a cigarette and share it with a woman, and a man smokes in a parking lot.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Drone warfare, remote warfare, the Taliban, Afghanistan, CIA, compartmentalizing, strikes based on pattern of behavior, fear, risk, morality, vicious cycle, imminent threat.

MESSAGE - Remote warfare is inaccurate and can result in civilian deaths. Drone operators can suffer with guilt and PTSD. No one wins a war in Afghanistan.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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