Eye in the Sky

Directed by Gavin Hood, Eye in the Sky drops viewers into a military command center where a drone strike is about to go live. Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) leads a covert operation out of London to capture terrorists in Nairobi, Kenya. When surveillance reveals the targets are preparing a suicide bombing, the mission shifts from capture to kill. But as American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) prepares to fire, a nine-year-old girl enters the kill zone, and the moral calculus changes instantly. The film becomes a tense procedural, tracing the decision up the chain of command through Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman) and into the political offices of both the US and UK governments. Guy Hibbert's script keeps the pressure on, forcing each character to weigh the life of one child against the potential deaths of many. The cast also includes Barkhad Abdi as a local operative and Phoebe Fox as a young surveillance officer, each bringing a different perspective to the crisis. Made for a modest $13 million, Eye in the Sky earned $18.7 million worldwide and drew strong reviews for its taut direction and ethical urgency. It stands as one of the sharper thrillers about modern warfare, and it was one of Alan Rickman's final film roles.[edit]