Brad Pitt relishes a good war drama. Whether it’s battling the undead in World War Z or spearheading a suicide mission in David Ayer’s rather brilliant Fury, the Hollywood veteran has headlined an array of vastly different genre films in his time, and he’s about to add another to the collection in the form of War Machine.
Pitched as a “pitch-black war story for our times,” War Machine comes by way of Netflix and David Michôd, the writer-director best known for 2010 crime drama Animal Kingdom. It tells the frankly absurd story of a four-star U.S. General (Pitt) who dives into the political cauldron of Afghanistan to oversee NATO forces. Confident to a fault, Michôd’s prescient drama really kicks into gear when Pitt’s fearless leader is sabotaged by a journalist, after the latter’s scathing exposé leaves his career – and indeed his life – lying in tatters. Michael Hastings’ non-fiction novel The Operators is the source material, and you can find the official synopsis below, courtesy of Netflix.
An absurdist war story for our times, writer-director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. General’s roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody – raising the specter of just where the line between them lies today. His is an exploration of a born leader’s ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly. At the story’s core is Brad Pitt’s sly take on a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by a journalist’s no-holds-barred exposé.
If Brad Pitt enlisting for another war drama wasn’t enough to pique your curiosity, then the movie’s ensemble cast ought to catch your eye. Joining Pitt for War Machine are Tilda Swinton, Sir Ben Kingsley, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Lakeith Stanfield, Emory Cohen, John Magaro, RJ Cyler, Alan Ruck, Batman V Superman‘s Scoot McNairy and Meg Tilly.
War Machine marches onto Netflix in time for May 26th. To get a taste of what’s to come, you can have a gander at the images below, which showcase Pitt’s charismatic leader rallying the troops from the front lines.
