Drones (Rick Rosenthal, 2013): USA

Reviewed by: Timothy Petersson     Viewed at AFI filmfestival 2013

The micro-budget drama thriller Drones, directed by Rick Rosenthal (Halloween II, Bad boys) does not only put the audience on the edge of their seats with its brilliant dialog and suspense but furthermore additionally effectively infiltrates the minds of the audience with its thought provoking content.

Set in present day Nevada desert at an Air Force base we are introduced to two characters, the protagonist of the film, Sue Lawson (Eloise Mumford) and her counterpart Jack Bowles (Matt O’Leary). It is Sue’s first day as an unmanned drone pilot; the “pilots” are presented one task, to eliminate a supposed high value target in affiliation with Al Qaida as he arrives at his safe house in Afghanistan. Thousands of miles away in a dark trailer the two drone pilots are facing a moral dilemma, the elimination of the target is only one click of a button away, however the targets family, wife and kids are inevitable casualties.

Does the significance of their mission justify executing civilians?

Effectively through dialog and production design the conventional understanding we have of what it means to be a combat pilot in action is entirely diminished with killing made as easy as playing cash bingo online. In terms of political context the major controversy of the film could be regarded as the notion of Drones being held responsible for a vast numbers of collateral damage. However the films focus is centered on the pilots pulling the trigger and how morals are being impaired by stripping the actuality of the act of killing from the pilot by him not being present on the actual combat scene.

As the film ends it is virtually inevitable to walk out of the theatre without long after still contemplating on how present day warfare can be made as easy as playing a video game. This notion is emphasized in the film in several ways, for instance in terms of the entire Mise-En-Scene, as the production design of the trailer almost resembles a teenagers gaming station where he plays “Call Of Duty”, something that secondary pilot Jack even makes a reference to. Furthermore as the Drone is approaching the target, Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” is automatically blasted through the speakers inside the drone pilots’ trailer continuously reinforcing the notion of it all just being a video game. However the pinnacle of this concept, the drone pilots’ decision to strip off their military uniforms, rendering them as just two civilians hanging out, is part of brilliant screen writing by Rosenthal in terms of taking the act out of the act of killing.

In the end however what makes Drones a brilliant film is the simplicity of it. It is evident that practically the whole movie was shot on location in the Nevada desert. It is filmed in real time and the action is centered inside the drone pilots’ trailer, allowing for an immensely simplified camera setup with mostly medium shots, close ups and a back and forth of over the shoulder shots. The lighting remains consistent throughout the movie as it is filmed in “real time” with an overall grungy blue tone casted inside the trailer. The exterior shots of the terrorist’s safe house are helicopter birds eye shots as being the drones POV and don’t really allow for much stylistic expression further simplifying the production. In terms of soundtrack, the diegetic sounds are of uttermost importance to the story as the “Ride Of the Valkyries”, the non-diegetic soundtrack sounds like layered suspense music samples one could find in pre-composed production packages, however the simplicity of it works.

Ultimately drones is a noteworthy thriller, not only in terms of its content, but the fact that it is able to keep you on the edge of the seat throughout the film practically only through a real-time dialog,the film can be summarized with the following words, genius micro-budget filmmaking!