Parents' Guide to Atonement

Walking in someone else's shoes is one of storytelling's most important functions, and writer-director Reed Van Dyk uses the technique effectively in this intense fact-based Iraq war drama. The media often gives air time to the politicians who shape narratives for their goals, successfully "othering" enemies—but in Atonement, viewers live with the Khachaturians, an Iraqi family staying with relatives outside war-torn Baghdad during the U.S. intervention in 2003. They're depicted as a pretty average family: Kids tease each other and nag their mom to let them go back to their house where their friends are, Dad watches the news, etc. But as we're feeling close to this loving, relatable family, a bomb explodes inside their house. It's clear they're no safer in the suburbs, and they rush to escape and return to their home in Baghdad. Viewers are in the vehicle with them as, nearly home, they try to figure out how to handle a confusing situation when they hear gunfire but can't tell where it's coming from. It doesn't end well.

Then things pivot, the story moving forward a decade. Now we see that U.S. Marine Lou D'Alessandro (Holbrook), is an emotional and psychological mess, trying to manage both his PTSD and his guilt. Van Dyk gives Lou, New Yorker writer Michael Reid (Kenneth Branagh), and Khatchaturian matriarch Marian (Hiam Abbass) and daughter Nora (Gheed) the spotlight, showing how war damages or destroys everyone in its path. Van Dyk manages to pull viewers in while keeping a bit of an emotional distance from the story's central tragedy. That space helps viewers not be emotionally wrecked0, but it also somewhat removes them from the experience and, therefore, lessens some of the movie's impact. Efforts are made to flesh out Reporter Reid's role and give him more depth (perhaps to give a well-respected actor like Branagh more to do), but he isn't as affected as the others, so his parts drag down viewers' engagement and may create a restlessness to get back to more relevant moments. Still, Holbrook and Abbass deliver fantastic performances, and Atonement is an important story—one we can only hope war hawks watch before rushing into battle.