I did not properly prepare myself for this movie. That's on me, I suppose. This is Matthew Heineman's follow up to Cartel Land, after all. Cartel Land isn't shy about the violence it covers. City of Ghosts is another level though. It makes sense. It's a film about ISIS protestors in a city run by ISIS. It's hard to understand how much danger these men put themselves in to let the rest of the world know about the atrocities committed by ISIS without showing the atrocities. I just wasn't ready to see that much footage of executions. I've never been curious about that kind of violence. Back in high school, I looked up a Taliban execution once by mistake and it messed me up for a while. And that was just a couple pictures. Ever since, I've avoided seeing anything like that. That's not one of the dark corners of the internet that I want to look in. So, what I'm trying to say is, this movie is not for the feint.
Once you get past that, it's a great spotlight on some people who have done something incredibly brave. The film making isn't all that engaging and it doesn't really need to be. Just running through everything these men have been through is remarkable enough. The story does sputter at the end when the men all get to Germany. Sure, there's anti-immigrant protests there, but it's very safe by comparison. I'm glad it's safe[r] for them. There's not much for the story at that point though.
I mainly would recommend this film to give you a clear picture of what is going on with ISIS in Syria, but it you think reading a newspaper article will do, I won't press the matter.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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