Movie Review – The Whistleblower

I’ve said it before, and I don’t mind sounding like a broken record, but I go into media screenings trying to know as little as possible about what I’m about to see. When I got my invite for ‘The Whistleblower’, all I knew was that it starred Rachel Weisz, and the main thing I was looking forward to was that it was the first screening in awhile at the nice little boutique cinema, ‘The Bridgeway’, over on the North Shore of Auckland. So, after work on Thursday, I got onto the motorway and fought the traffic along with everyone else to make my way over the bridge, knowing that even if the film was average, I’d still have a nice experience of the cinema. This sense of mystery about the film seems to also heighten my love of the cinema it happens to be screening at, so I try to relish that feeling as much as I can, just in case the film ends up being crap! 

“Inspired by true events, Kathy (Rachel Weisz) is an American police officer who takes a job working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Her expectations of helping to rebuild a devastated country are dashed when she uncovers a dangerous reality of corruption, cover-up and intrigue amid a world of private contractors and multinational diplomatic doubletalk.” 

This film was based on real events, and it never, ever, pulled its punches with the brutality of them, and it was in fact sometimes rather shocking seeing what was happening on screen. Most films are entertaining, others are informative, but sometimes you get one that is important, not because it’s well made or slick, as I felt this film lacked both of those elements, but because the subject matter is significant in reminding us that there are things broken in this world and that things need to change. This film highlighted a subject matter, people trafficking for the sex trade, in a very shocking manner, though I’ll argue it needed to be that way to stay true to the actual brutality of what can happen in this world. That, for me, makes this an important film. I just wish it had been a little better made.

7 out of 10 from me.

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