The East

Zal Batmanglij’s last film was Sound of My Voice, a low budget thriller concerning a cult and starring Brit Marling. With a bit more budget he now follows up with The East, a thriller concerning a cult (of sorts) and starring, er, Brit Marling. Batmanglij and Marling wrote the script based on their experience of joining an underground activist group. Based on what they’ve come up with here the stereotypical views of rough sleeping and minimal washing don’t look far from the truth. However Batmanglij and Marling struggle to transpose their experiences onto the screen as their script has too many ideas going on. Anarchy, eco-terrorism, multi-nationals, corruption, fraud, love, friendship and sex all battle for position meaning the film struggles to get its message across. That isn’t to say this isn’t thrilling in parts, but once you get past the halfway point it loses its momentum before the somewhat cop-out ending. Marling takes the lead role, though after now seeing her in a few films I’m not sure she has much range beyond her bland facial expressions and she never convinces here that at one point she was former FBI Agent. Still this film does offer plenty of food for thought though, whatever your politics, seeing this is only going to reinforce whatever side of the line you already fall on. Pub Quiz Fact: Batmanglij’s younger brother is the pianist in Vampire Weekend! Rating: 6/10.