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This debut feature by writer-director Peter Sattler about a female soldier stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is a quiet, patient drama that focuses on a handful of characters and plays out in a few key locations: a cell, a hallway, a prison yard, some offices.
Camp X-Ray's treatment of its subject verges on the shallow, but benefits greatly from a pair of impressive performances from Kristen Stewart and Peyman Moaadi. Read Critics Reviews
- (58)
- Peter Sattler
- R
- Kristen Stewart
Oct 24, 2014 · It helps if you think of “Camp X-Ray” and the prison face-off between Stewart and Maadi as a cautionary conversation unfolding more like a theater production than a movie.
- Prisoner of Azkaban.
- Verdict
By Cliff Wheatley
Updated: Aug 16, 2021 11:59 pm
Posted: Oct 17, 2014 9:08 pm
Peter Sattler’s Camp X-Ray is a film that could just as easily be a stage play; its scenes linger and the director is content to let the camera rest, placing the movie on the shoulders of its leads. Camp X-Ray is dominated by conversations between two characters often talking to one another through a steel door, and yet it’s one of the most moving and engrossing movies I’ve seen this year.
Private Amy Cole (Kristen Stewart) is assigned to be a guard at Guantanamo Bay, where she strikes up a friendship with a detainee – they’re not prisoners, as Cole explains, because then they’d be subject to the Geneva Conventions -- named Ali Amir (Peyman Moaadi), a man that’s been imprisoned there for eight years. What follows is a complex and challenging portrayal of a very delicate relationship; the film opens on the all-too-familiar imagery of the World Trade Center burning on 9/11, bringing the feelings of that day to the forefront before Sattler asks us to sympathize with a man presumed to be a member of al-Qaeda.
The movie’s decision to be vague with Amir’s guilt is part of what makes the movie work as a think piece; it allows Cole to challenge her notions of loyalty to the Army when she begins to realize that she and Amir aren’t all that different. Camp X-Ray is meant to make the viewer uncomfortable, and it succeeds, but not without making a point. This is a movie that stays with you long after the credits roll, but Sattler’s on-point writing and willingness to let the scene play only deserves half the credit.
Camp X-Ray is a penetrating and thought-provoking experience that offers up some damn fine performances from its actors. This is Oscar-worthy acting for sure, but the movie also announces the arrival of Peter Sattler as an auteur to keep a close eye on. His ability to recognize an actor’s performance accompanied by his camera placement and penchant...
- Cliff Wheatley
Top Critics. All Audience. Verified Audience. Danielle Davenport One Room With A View. Notwithstanding good performances, potent imagery and cinematic flair, Camp X-Ray does not cut deep nor...
Camp X-Ray is not at all apolitical as some of reviewers say - nah, it is political statement, cleverly submerged under story about human species, friendship and love. Don't miss this one! 28 out of 38 found this helpful.
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Kristen Stewart stars in tough, timely Guantanamo drama. Read Common Sense Media's Camp X-Ray review, age rating, and parents guide.
