The East (2013)

hyped garbage

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

best movie i've ever seen.

As Good As It Gets

The East (2013) is a great film filled with great actors and actresses with a story-line that needs a whole lot more exposure. The East shows a little bit of both sides of the argument versus how the real world news makes everyone out there that is trying to correct or fix something the bad people while the bad in this world run it all.The East shows how they're good and bad people in everything, those that stand up for the right things yet in a group with some who have the wrong intentions; whilst at the same time the media showing these groups to be harmful while covering up for the companies who are causing the issues to have such groups. The East shows how the biggest concern with stopping groups like this is only to financially gain from it as everything in this world revolves around. The East is a great movie and everyone needs to see it.

The trailers for "The East" make it look like not much more than a revenge flick for the 99%, but it's much more (and much deeper) than that. The film shows a group of underground anarchists taking their revenge on people they see as corporate criminals, people who knowingly poison the masses with their medications and destroy the environment with their factories. But the main character is a young woman named Sarah, a kind of corporate cop who goes undercover to expose the group. When she figures out that one of the people she's been following is a member of The East, she cleverly exploits that relationship to infiltrate the group, but then has to work hard to gain the trust of the disparate outcasts who make up this modern day commune.Of course, this involves participating in The East's elaborate plans of revenge on corporate America. The East's schemes are dangerous - both for their targets and for themselves. Although they passionately believe in what they're doing, the members of the group have trouble dealing with the price they have to pay for their extreme activism. Sarah's eyes are opened too, in a variety of ways. To say that "The East" is left wing propaganda is not inaccurate, but it sells the film short.The film uses a creative story with a lot of tension to shed fresh light on the complicated world in which we live and challenges us to think about the best way to deal with our modern problems. Though stretching the limits of realism, this film is original enough to keep the audience engaged and deep enough to make them think. I give "The East" a B+.

I watched this movie because Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgard are among my favorite actors and I enjoyed both in other things I have seen them in. I had never heard of Brit Marling or Shiloh Fernandez before. After watching this movie I will add both to my favorite actors list and will seek out other projects they're in. Aldis Hodge had a smaller role than those I've mentioned above but I found his character fascinating and will look for more of his work as well. The acting, even in the smaller roles, was good to excellent. The soundtrack was perfectly selected and added to the feel of the movie.This movie has a plot that was a bit cliché but still quite engaging and the topic was relevant. It was thought provoking and in fact the movie has stuck with me in the two months since I watched it. It had enough unexpected twists to keep me engaged particularly the death of Ellen Page's character Izzie. The tension in her death scene was overwhelming in a great way and is one of the most memorable scenes in any movie I've ever watched. I do wish that the burgeoning attraction between Marling's and Skarsgard's characters had been made just a bit clearer. However, the love scene between the two was by far the best I have ever seen partly because it was devoid of any shots that could be considered even R rated. This scene was masterfully acted and directed.

Patricia Clarkson has a role so small in this film, but like a tiny piece of Uranium has a massive impact.Here she is the head of the main character's company, a firm that supplies intelligence for corporations, infiltrating underground groups that act out against companies.In the course of this film, there is a sequence in which our heroine is present when a "monkey wrench" (called a jam) of sorts is about to happen and a large number of people are about to be badly treated. She then calls Clarkson with concerns about the event about to take place mere minutes (like nearly seconds), Clarkson has a response that is the essence of corporate evil.In this one, brief line, Clarkson nails Corporate Swine Person as well as if not better than Gary Cole in Office Space or Paul Reiser in Aliens.Overall the film is well made, well directed and has Ellen Page in it. (Anything with Ellen Page is worth watching at least once IMHO.) A good gripping thriller, well made and with an edge. 9/10