How the US killed Osama bin Laden - warts and all

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2020)

Let's look at the controversy surrounding the "enhanced interrogation" scenes first. Bigelow claimed she wanted to include torture scenes because it really happened and not doing so would be whitewashing - a decision that I can only applaud.
Some critics (who may even believe torture was a justified means to an end) apparently took it as an attack on the CIA's success just by including their dirty methods. However, Bigelow's stylistic approach (not only in these scenes but the movie as a whole) feels like a reportage.
Therefore, other critics claimed she didn't condemn torture at all. Granted, we don't see any of the CIA agents show any form of objection to these methods or any regret. In fact, the only harsh words against torture came from Barrack Obama on the TV news.
However, if you payed attention, it is revealed the important cluetdfinfutihnuegfuu
was in the CIA's archives all along and the torture had been unnecessary for finding Osama Bin Laden after all.
The audience's reaction to the torture is somewhat "primed" by the opening of the movie where you can hear the desperate emergency calls of victims on September 11th 2001. Of course, not putting the movie in the direct context of 9/11 would have been a poor directoral choice but here it is done in a slightly manipulative way. It makes the audience feel a bit more comfortable with the waterboarding etc. that was about to follow.
Other than torturing there was plenty of other "detective work". I didn't expect the movie to dumb things down but maybe it could have been a bit clearer about who's who and what's going on.
Needless to say, some parts are heavily fictionalized. Especially the part where 'Maya' wrote on an office window, how many days have passed without results. Although the character played by Jessica Chestain (whose performance is flawless) is inspired by a real CIA agent, it was not the success of a single person's work.
It is the one Hollywood clichÃ© in the movie that had me roll my eyes: The over-motivated, hot-headed young maverick who solves the case against all odds and against their resistent colleagues. Paradoxically, the movie would have been more feministic by focusing less on one single woman and showing that in reality there were more women sitting in important meetings than just 'Maya'.
Credit goes to the direction for the "showdown" where SEALs infiltrate Osama's fortress. It was very suspenseful to watch despite the audience already knowing the outcome.
Finally, I want to focus on the ending, which elevated the movie and you can interpret it in many ways. I didn't take Maya's tears on the plane as tears of joy. She is finally overcome by the realization that she hit her goal that she was working towards for many years. As alluded to in some scenes it has become her personal obsessions taking over her life and has become her "jihad". And now that the enemy is dead, now what?
It is also interesting that the real life 'Maya' - who's identity is unkown - did actually have signs of maladjustment after Bin Laden's death. According to former CIA member there were some incidents, e.g. she sent out email replies to her colleagues, claiming she deserved more credit than the rest of her team. This makes me hold on to my interpretation. She could be seen as a personification for the United States as a whole. A decade was characterized by a war on terrorism and a revengeful hunt for Osama bin Laden. Everything you worked for was motivated by killing an enemy who is now dead, leaving oyu without a direction. Yet, most of your problems (some were created along the way) are not gone.