Parents' Guide to September 5

This taut, gripping docudrama burrows into the weeds and stays there for the duration of its tragic tale, traveling completely back in time and capturing a vivid, urgent feel. One of the most shocking things about September 5, at least at first, is the primitive analog technology on display—which was cutting edge at the time. Film was shot and developed, titles were done by hand (with little plastic letters), and walkie-talkies, rotary phones, and microphones were rigged together to provide a live feed. The mood in the control room is tense, with characters thinking on their feet and communicating in shorthand. Their jobs are to figure out how to tell the story honestly, but also to figure out the most compelling way to tell it visually, for television. (Sometimes these two ideals butt heads against one another.)

The performances are solid across the board, but Sarsgaard, Chaplin, and especially Magaro—the decision makers—are captivating; we can practically see their brains whirling. (Sarsgaard has never been so intense as when he stands up to an armed German police officer and tells him to "get the f--k out of my control room!") Steven Spielberg's Munich told a slightly different version of this story, following events for months and years later, but September 5 sticks just to the day itself, asking—but not necessarily answering—tough questions about this type of news coverage and what it means. It falters in its final minutes as it stoops to a bit of melodrama, but otherwise it's a crackerjack heartbreaker of a movie.