The East
★★★★
Dir: Zal Batmanglij
(2013)
Last year's The Sound of My Voice was a perfect garden for Zal Batmanglij and writer-actress Brit Marling and their love of cult and conspiracy to flourish. Marling, now a definite rising star in the indie film world (whatever that means these days) has the brains, the talent and an eerie presence on-screen; Both beautiful and extremely confident; With The East she's written a great little thriller which steps out of the constraints in budget of their first film and delivers a feature which is part Martha Marcy May Marlene and part espionage thriller. A balance which shouldn't work but, somehow, this is a throughly entertaining and interesting poke at big industry, the media and the effect of cult.
Marling plays Sarah Moss, an undercover agent working for a high security company of sorts, recruited to keep their high paying corporate clientelle's darkest selects away from prying eyes. The East of the film's title are a group of corporate terrorists bent on exposing the environmental and personal disasters in the wake of big business, pharmaceutical and otherwise, and Sarah is smacked right in the thick of it. Right there with her are the group's father figure (Alexander Skarsgård) and their jealous mother (Ellen Page) so Batmanglij and Marling can begin to play with tension both inside and outside of the anarchists.
Though not quite hitting the mystery and sheer creepiness of their first effort together, The East is a technical and story telling step up. It's certainly neither ground breaking or original enough to slap you in the face but it balances multiplex savvy entertainment and independent film making sensibilities remarkably well. Toby Kebbell lends a rather great hand with his makeshift doctor and the director and Marling revisit a number of themes including rather tense game of dare. An off kilter and enjoyable environmental comment which definitely manages to keep its feet on the ground with the help of a taught, simple plot and even despite a few awkward twists and turns.
