Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
An operative for an elite private intelligence firm finds her priorities irrevocably changed after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations.
The East is a competent thriller with genuine ideological ambition, exploring corporate malfeasance and eco-anarchism through an undercover operative's crisis of conscience. The premise is intriguing and the film handles its moral complexity better than most genre entries. Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgård deliver solid performances, and the ensemble anarchist group feels lived-in. However, the film ultimately plays it safer than its provocative setup promises — the ending feels unresolved and somewhat anticlimactic, failing to fully commit to the radical implications it spent the runtime building. Cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable. As a thriller it works, but it doesn't quite transcend its genre in the way it seems to aspire to.