Eye in the Sky (2016), directed by Gavin Hood

Intelligent, balanced, thoughtful and well cast, this film examines the chain of command and the decision process of a drone strike on high-level terrorists about to implement a suicide bomb attack in Nairobi. The tension rises as politicians and the military across several nations wrestle with the ethical and legal dilemma of preventing terrorism versus collateral human damage. Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman are strong as the military officers with responsibility for the strike. They have to deal with the vacillations of politicians above, some of whom are more concerned with covering their backsides than making decisions. They also have to take into account the concerns and questions of those below, including agents on the ground and the drone pilots, who actually have to do the dirty work. The technology demonstrated is awesome, but never overwhelms consideration of the human cost. Tension builds as the risk of letting the terrorists escape is weighed against the life of innocent bystanders, particularly a nine-year-old girl selling bread in the street outside the targeted building. Viewers are posed the question – what would you do? And there are no easy answers.