Black Site Review: Michelle Monaghan leads a lackluster action thriller
ACCORDING TO
FERDOS
PUBLISHED MAY 5, 2022
Black Site follows a straightforward plot, but it's a predictably stale and basic thriller that has little to offer viewers who enjoy the genre.

michelle monaghan black place
 

There are many movies and TV shows that revolve around the war on terror. Many of them feature a variety of characters that fall into archetypes and stand against or alongside terrorists who have one simple goal to cause mayhem. These stories often follow protagonists with some personal connection to their work. They must therefore work harder to fight terrorism. Black Site follows this trope, with the central heroine recovering from a terrible loss due to a terrorist attack, but the film is a basic thriller that offers little to audiences who enjoy the genre.


Michelle Monaghan stars as Abby Trent, a CIA analyst who lost her husband and daughter in a terrorist attack in Istanbul, Turkey. She is distraught over the loss of her family. Fighting against sanity, she tries to get back to work to find out who ruined her life. He finds himself in a secret facility known as the Citadel, a place for suspected terrorists to be held for "interrogation". What begins as a mission to uncover the identity of the elusive Hatchet (Jason Clarke) turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse when he is "caught" and brought in.

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black site review
Black Site is stubbornly basic. The screenplay is a poor replica of the standard text for a film like this. A story like this can only be elevated by exceptional direction or great acting. The plot and borderline villains are left in the lurch. Black Site should have aspired to be more; should have reached the standard set by Zero Dark Thirty (the film that should have won Jessica Chastain an Oscar), but the film is disturbingly flat. Without life. Even in the moments when the ensemble is together, taunting each other or offering a sense of community for Abby, the chemistry just isn't there. The seriousness in Jinder Ho's script is stunning, even if it doesn't have to be.

The film follows a straightforward plot. However, it is predictably outdated and by the numbers. The film could have gone harder on the violence or done a deadly game of cat and mouse to combat this. The sequence where Clarke's Hatchett escapes reveals his deadly methods of sneaking up on people and simply stabbing them. There is no finesse. There is no art in this madman's killing technique. The chatter before his arrival paints him as a diabolical assassin, but when we see him, he's just some guy who preys on the apparent weaknesses of the establishment and the rules they play by.

Excitement builds after the escape with a score that explains the doom and gloom of the situation. The actors spewing curses as they run around with guns and flashlights is meant to create a sense of madness and danger, but all it does is prevent one from peacefully dozing off. The tension between the characters stems from superficial disagreements that ultimately don't do much to win over the audience. Every action taken appears counterintuitive in the film and within the film's construction. Black Site is just a repeat of all the war on terror that viewers have come to know.

In a way, this film could have transcended the sub-genre norm of political thrillers, instead being full on horror with a deadly killer taking out each character one by one. However, it would need a sharper script and compelling characters to support or oppose. There's little buildup around Hatchet's kills. Too many characters stand idly by, bickering or yelling at each other about their situation. The facility is not well used as a place for danger, with a literal scarecrow lurking around every corner. Horror elements are hinted at, but unfortunately never used adequately. The film has a satisfactory performance by Michelle Monaghan, which is probably what it's good for. The ending makes clear the potential for a Bourne-type series, but with the first entry so blandly put together, there's very little hope that the sequel will be any better.