Who's in It: Riz Ahmed, Farhad Harun, Arfan Usman, Waqar Siddiqui
The Basics: Three innocent Muslim British citizens of Pakistani descent find themselves locked down in the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. They were on their way to a wedding in September 2001 and wound up being captured and sent off to everyone's favorite prison — you know, the one that doesn't have to charge you with a crime, give you access to counsel or ever let you go. Yeah, it's a documentary.
What's the Deal? It's also a re-enacted documentary. And it's also a little problematic. See, the story of what the three Brits were doing in Afghanistan is a little complicated and doesn't always make perfect sense. And even more maddening is director Michael Winterbottom's intention to make a very real point about American abuse of power, but he doesn't spend enough time getting to the bottom of the truth about how these guys ended up associated with the Northern Alliance and why.
Re-enactments: The non-pro actors involved are not incredibly talented. So while the flagrant Geneva Convention violations are all well-documented and not in question (not to mention stomachache-inducingly brutal), you have to sort of pretend it's your friends in community theater. And just say, "Oh, yeah, you're doing fine job with all that acting."
How It Works: The men in this movie don't crack under pressure, but generally speaking, the men in Guantanamo are basically tortured into confessions whether the confessions are true or not. That way the United States can say this hasn't been a gigantic mistake and a violation of basic human rights.
And Guess What? The finally free "Tipton Three" (named after their English hometown) say that their religious beliefs have been strengthened by the experience. Let's hope they mean on the side of rationality and peace.