Adam Winfield is a 21-year-old United States infantryman who fought in Afghanistan. During his tour, he takes issue with the behavior from individual members in his platoon being acted out upon the local Afghani people (dead young men are shown throughout, so be forewarned).
Before he manages to safely alert someone to the problems taking place in his unit (and according to him across the entire military), his platoon gets wind of this and starts giving threats to ensure silence. Adam is forced to decide whether he should stay quiet or stop the activities of which he is so opposed.
This film is an account of these events from various members of the platoon (including Adam).
There is no doubt this documentary is an important one. It shows a young man in a situation which is seemingly unjust and unfair. It became difficult at times to watch a small guy get treated so terribly (nobody likes bullying). You can tell just how miserable and worried he is.
The film leads up to his hearing where he's given three years in prison. It's quite painful to watch. The message I received was how important it is for Americans to be able to rely on a system of justice and that we all will hold one another accountable for injustice when we see it.
I do however think this situation is not as simple as many will think it is. The United States military is responsible for keeping peace around the world. The Navy occupies the oceans with Super Carriers which prevent violence and war. The Airforce and Army are no different. To think otherwise is to be naive. I should note that I am not a member of the military, come from immigrant parents and was born and raised here in the United States. For me, this film has an important message to get across. I would like to challenge everyone to drop any previous opinions on these issues going into the film. There are many, MANY more amazing United States soldiers out there for each instance of a bad one we hear about in the media. That idea often gets lost in politics where the focus is on problems (rarely accomplishments).
Ultimately, we can credit a lot of the good in this world to the United States military, much of which gets ignored. Being able to remain impartial for this topic makes this even more of an insightful experience.
What I liked most about this was how the director didn't allow for this to run any longer than needed. A short and to the point account.
----- 8/10 STARS -------- Review by Searsino -----
