Zero Dark Thirty (Blu-Ray+UV)
Considering the subject matter of Zero Dark Thirty, a film that follows the CIA’s decade-long hunt for Osama Bin Laden, it’d be little surprise were Hollywood to knock the edges off a little to make it easier for a broader audience. But director Kathryn Bigelow makes no such concession. Off the back of her Oscar-winning feature The Hurt Locker, her movie is a pulls-no-punches, under-your-skin drama. As such, it’s not always the easiest film to watch, but it is an utterly compelling one.
At the heart of it is Jessica Chastain, playing CIA officer Maya. She’s the anchor of Zero Dark Thirty, and it’s her drive and determination that underpins the ongoing search. Bigelow employs a broad ensemble, unsurprising given the length of time the film’s story covers, but she too is a standpoint. She’s emerged as one of America’s most compelling, interesting directors, and Zero Dark Thirty is an exceptional, bold piece of film making.
The disc features some welcome extra material that digs a little deeper, but it’s on something of a hiding to nothing, given the strength and ferocity of the main feature itself. A modern classic? Maybe, maybe not. But Zero Dark Thirty is a film, either way, that simply demands to be seen. —Jon Foster
