United 93

I went back and forth and back and forth over whether I could see this movie. Is it too soon? Is it right? Will I cope? And so on and so on. In the end I realised that I had to see it for many reasons, not least the fact that nobody seems to have a bad word to say about it.

The film has been made with the utmost care and sensitivity and with the approval and co-operation of the relatives of those on board the flight and those on the ground who watched it all unfold, helplessly aghast. It takes place in real time and is filmed with an immediacy that makes the viewing experience unbearably uncomfortable and entirely gripping all at the same time. What is such an acheivement about this film is that you are left with no doubt that this film is a very important work, a story that needed to be told and immortalised for hundreds of reasons, but it doesn't once batter you about the head shouting "LOOK! WE'RE TELLING AN IMPORTANT STORY!" (something I fear will not be said of Oliver Stone's upcoming World Trade Centre). What's more, without any emotional manipulation or blatant heart string tugging, it reduced me to floods of tears for the last 10-15 minutes and I had trouble recovering myself and stopping the tears while the credits rolled. An absolutely astonishing film, a tricky proposition that paid off and is a fitting tribute to the people who were involved.