THE EAST
Starring Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård
Directed by Zal Batmanglij
At this point in their careers, it seems that writer-director Zal Batmanglij and writer-star Brit Marling produce their best work when saddled with restrictions. With 2011s microbudget Sound of My Voice, they effectively staged an involving sci-fi-tinged thriller that rarely left the lower reaches of a suburban home. Rewarded with seven figures to work with for their follow-up, the collaborators prove that earnestness is no substitute for execution, fashioning a toothless suspense film that bites off considerably more than it can chew.
Sarah (Brit Marling) is a former FBI agent who now works for a private intelligence firm dedicated to protecting corporations images and interests. With an anarchist collective called The East bent on making executives experience the terror of their crimes for instance, Big Pharma reps are subjected to their products debilitating side effects Sarah is charged with infiltrating their ranks and earning the trust of their leader Benji (Alexander Skarsgård, struggling to harness his inner Manson).
Both factions of this ideological are depicted in a decidedly unflattering light, with the suits predictably soulless and the activists unappealingly self-righteous. While these broad characterizations are irksome, its the portrayal of Sarah thats most problematic. That this elite intelligence officer is a naïf whos never considered the possibility of corporate skulduggery stretches credulity well beyond its breaking point.
Whereas Batmanglij and Marlings willingness to flirt with ridiculousness lent Sound of My Voice a unique and compelling sensibility, it leaves their high-minded, socially-conscious sophomore film feeling remarkably callow.
Perhaps they shouldve stayed in the basement a little longer before making their bid for mainstream success.
