Terrorism has been the subject of many movies. Examples are Arlington Road, Fight Club, Die Hard, V for Vendetta, United 93, Der Baader Meinhof Complex or TV series like Sleeper Cell and 24. Unthinkable also is based on this subject, but instead of going the action movie route it chooses the format of a thriller.
Michael Sheen is Steven Arthur Younger, a terrorist who is a big threat to the U.S as he has planted nuclear bombs in three cities. Helen Brody (Carrie-Anne Moss) is an FBI agent working in an anti-terrorism unit and is responsible for finding Younger. Younger allows himself to be caught however so he can face his oppressors.
Henry Herald ‘H’ Humphries (Samuel L. Jackson) is the interrogator who is assigned to Younger with the assignment of getting the information about the bombs.’H’ is a special interrogator, which the government only uses as a last option. The reason becomes clear as “H” uses very extreme interrogation techniques.
After having watched several seasons of 24, I’ve seen quite a bit in terms of interrogation methods used, but this movie had moments that managed to shock.
Nobody can scream as Samuel L. Jackson and as his work in Lakeview Terrace already showed he can be very creepy doing it. In this movie he does not disappoint and you would not want to be strapped in the chair with him in the room.
Michael Sheen impressed me most as he plays his role very convincingly. He really manages to show the anger, pain and fear inside him.
The film is shocking, but makes you think about how far you should go to get information that may save thousands of lives. Can you see yourself doing the unthinkable?
Score: 8