Sundance 2024: U.S. officials simulate another insurrection in chilling 'War Game'

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — War Game
3.5 out of 5 Stars
Directors:Jesse Moss, Tony Gerber
Category:Special Screening
Genre: Documentary
Tickets, Online Screenings:Click Here

Festival Synopsis: A bipartisan group of U.S. defense, intelligence, and elected policymakers spanning five presidential administrations participate in an unscripted role-play exercise in which they confront a political coup backed by rogue members of the U.S. military, in the wake of a contested presidential election.

Review:"War Game" is nearly the real-world adaptation of "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." Stanley Kubrick’s film was a satire presented to a presumably sane audience. "In War Games," the table is turned: The insanity is on the outside looking in.

Following the events of Jan. 6, 2021, a group of government officials gathered to roleplay what to do if a similar event were to happen and how they would respond if there were members of the U.S. military who would support or provide aid the insurrectionists in their attempt of a political coup.

This is not an episode of “What If?” This is an unscripted documentary of a real learning exercise. The fallible human element is on full display and it is terrifying. Weighty decisions need immediate attention, but all consequences must be considered. It is a cripplingly slow process.

10 years ago, this kind of exercise might have been met with a “it couldn’t happen here” response. Now, it almost feels inevitable. That gives the film a sense of urgency that simply can’t be manufactured.

We’re also given a glimpse into how the insurrectionists might respond to the decisions made in the war room. Working remotely from an undisclosed location, they flood social media with false narratives. Unburdened by policy, they move more quickly: Reckless agents of chaos.

The only real commentary in the film is provided by the people participating in the drill. We aren’t given a lot of information about who these people are or the lives they will return to when the exercise is over. They start and end as strangers.

The exception is one of the individuals portraying an insurrectionist. He is allowed to tell his backstory. It feels a little out of place, even if in the big picture his commentary is the most powerful and insightful.

As a journalist, I wanted the newsroom process to be part of the story. The conflict of wanting to move quickly while remaining true to the slow process of vetting details. That’s a completely different movie.

"War Games" is an unsettling experience that I hope time proves to be an unnecessary exercise.