Oltre il confine

You may be surprised to learn the star of this gritty little sci-fi thriller is a former German special forces operative who served in Afghanistan. Yes-German special forces did fight in the Afghan war. They weren't just brewing beer and designing efficient cars; they were out there in the dust with US and British units, kicking down doors in classified joint operations. Just don't expect Berlin to tell you much about it-German military missions are about as secretive as your nan's naughty black-and-white photos.

And that quiet professionalism makes Exterritorial all the more intriguing. Here we've got a hard-as-nails ex-Kommando Spezialkräfte soldier-a woman with a backstory the script only hints at, but which radiates from her weathered expression like desert heat off tarmac. She's the good guy. Mostly.

Add to that a villain who speaks like he's read too much Nietzsche and smells like petrol, and a wild card sidekick, Irina (played by Lera Abova), whose apparently shifting loyalties make for some proper "what the hell is happening?" moments. It's got that familiar European sci-fi mood: part haunted tech lab, part black-ops bunker, with a dash of Black Mirror unease. There's a small but clever plot about weaponised memory, a mysterious object from the stars, and a question mark over who's really telling the truth.

And yes-there are high-tech gadgets galore. Some are clearly intended to help us suspend disbelief about the starlet's erratic behaviour (don't worry, she's not losing it-just temporarily synchronised with a pulsar from Andromeda or something). The techy stuff gives it pace and that sense of "maybe this is happening just five years from now."

It's a German film, dubbed into English. But worry not: modern dubbing isn't the comedy gold it used to be. This isn't like those classic Bruce Lee numbers where the lips would finish the sentence sometime after the credits rolled (don't you just miss them though? Real class...). No, this is slick, well-timed, and the voices match the mood beautifully.

Overall, Exterritorial is tight, satisfying, and a bit mad in the best way. It's one of those foreign gems that streamers are increasingly brave enough to show us-and we're better off for it. There's grit, action, sci-fi smarts, and a lead actor who probably still carries sand in her boots from Helmand Province.

Definitely worth a watch. Just maybe don't ask the German government what it's really about.

I cannot accept this movie's premise as it is. We know that this single-parent mom, a German white woman, a former Special Forces soldier, loves her son so much after her husband died. We can understand how she loves her son. But at the very beginning of this movie, this supposedly well-trained, very lethal Special Forces soldier proves herself not to be a careless person. She is not as good as an ordinary housewife and mother. She almost lost her kid in the subway when she was talking on the phone. Then she commited a more ser serious and unforgivable mistake in the American Embassy. She allowed her little kid to play in the playroom, alone, and left to go checking out her appointment. There's no other parents in that playroom when she left. How possible? It's like you leave a child in an unattended vehicle, or leave a kid in a nobody around playground in a park.

In order to create the leading role losing her child in a security-tight American Embassy, the screenplay writer and director, Christian Zübert, has decided to give us such a ridiculous scenario, a highly unlikely and impossible premise.

The plot has a basic missing child desperation and rage basis. Good fodder for the action junkie who doesn't care about authenticity or realism. If you wait for cinematography that contains outdoor adventure or sweeping scenery, it doesn't happen. Most of the story happens in the same building, much of which consists of windowless walls. The English dubbing over foreign actors lack of lip sync is easy to get past and better than subtitles. U. S. Marines with full beards and 70 year old medals makes it kind of a joke early on for those of us who scrutinize such things. The protocol at a US foreign embassy was a bit ridiculous and at this point I was losing my enthusiasm. The new release hype draws you in with higher hopes than they deliver.

Checking out this movie to see Lera who will star in One Piece and I wasn't disappointed with her supporting role here now on to the main movie... it's not bad at all? Slow start but it flows quickly after.

I read some reviews so I was prepped to watch some unrealistic fight scenes but honestly I think they did good with grounding it. Jeanne Goursand has a fit body compared to Gal Gadot who played Wonder Woman but didn't have the muscles for it. Jeanne isn't so muscular but is well defined so I can believe she can fight. While she fought several times through the course of the film she never really fought too many at a time and honestly she always just barely wins. Girl was black and bruised each time so I applaud them for it. She's not superwoman downing her opponent with no issue.

Now the plot itself is predictable this isn't rocket science. We've seen movies like this already a parent out to save their child. So yeah that's out of the way don't look for anything deep in here. There's some questionable moments some are answered in the end but some are meh. Acting is okay overall it's not something they'll win awards for but they worked for this kind of film.

So overall if you're just in it for the action and simpleness I think you'll have a fun time. There's a lot of movement during fight scenes which I really liked. It gave that fluid feel to it. They're not shy with the blood and making it messy. I had a good time with this.

I don't want to give anything away other than to say this was a decent thriller. The only annoying thing was seeing a woman with small stature successfully take down several dozen 200 pound soldier men throughout the film with her fists and physical training.

Other than that silliness, it was fun, the characters were decent and I kept looking at Dougray Scott and imagining what he would've been like playing the roll of Wolverine if only fate hadn't changed his filming schedule and forcing Hugh Jackman to replace him in the part.

As for this film, I won't give away if the twist is all mental illness or if it's just like a more epic Flightplan plot and I'll let you find out for yourself. Decent fast paced film and good performances from Dougray and the rest of the cast.