A film that is hard to watch, but worth watching as a sadly true story of injustice, torture and a system seeking to condemn an innocent man simply because the US government needed scapegoats to satisfy a nations desire for revenge over 9/11. The movie gives a feel for the horrific experience vetted out to this innocent man, Mohamedou Ould Salahi. The saddest part is that after 8 years of jail, isolation and torture, the case for the prosecution was rejected ion court and yet the Obama administration chose to appeal and as a result he spent another 7 years in prison before finally being released in 2016. The acting of Tahir Rahim as Mohamedou was inspired and when the movie closes with Mohamedou in person, it feels like you are watching the same person and personality as portrayed in he movie. Also the courage of both the lawyer representing Mohamedou played by Jodi Foster and that of the Lt Colonel who was given the task to prosecute and who chose to refuse to continue once he became aware of the facts of the case. Both were ostracized by the media and their peers for choosing integrity over mob revenge.
The movie is hard to watch for any human with compassion and although some have complained that the torture scenes are inadequate, I would suggest the film found the right balance. Guantanamo was a disastrous mistake for a country that espouses justice and democracy and having watched the movie, one hopes that it can be closed down before its 20th anniversary. Facts as shared in the closing of the movie is the only 8 people of the circa 800 detained were found guilty, 3 of whom had their cases dropped on appeal.