Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2012 American thriller film called,
Zero Dark Thirty. Spoilers ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
The entirety of the film revolves on true events of the roughly decade-long search
for Osama bin Laden, the terrorist founder of Al-Qaeda who is behind the September 11 attacks.
The movie begins with a series of featured emergency calls made from different areas in
New York on September 11, 2001. The events later move forth to 2003 in Pakistan where the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) currently facilitated by Dan is seen in a black site along with the
then newly-assigned CIA analyst named Maya. She watches as they proceed with the enhanced
interrogation techniques on their prisoner Ammar, who is a supposed terrorist financier
with links to the Saudi Group. Dan makes it clear that if Ammar lies, he will hurt him.
They continue to question him in hopes of tracking Saudi Group’s future activities.
Ammar, on the other hand, refrains from talking and ends up being tortured in the black site.
Later, Maya is seen arriving in the United States Embassy in Pakistan to take her post on her first
field assignment. She becomes the newest member of the CIA analyst team for eliminating bin Laden
and neutralizing Al-Qaeda. The group discuss their findings over the last 24 hours, but to
no avail. The next day, Dan and Maya come back to interrogate Ammar in the black site. Dan gives him
food to which Ammar quickly devours while Maya watches from the sidelines. Dan pressures him
for more information on the Saudi Group but Ammar remains to claim having no knowledge of the group.
Dan strips off Ammar’s pants in the presence of Maya and leaves the two of them alone for a while.
Ammar begs Maya to help him but instead she urges him to be truthful. Shortly after,
Dan returns with a dog collar and treats Ammar like a dog while pushing him to walk. He further
pressures Ammar to tell them the day of the Saudi Group’s next attack. Ammar persists and only
tells Dan random days. This makes them confine Ammar inside a tight box with no ventilation.
The movie skips ahead to the events of May 29, 2004 in Khobar, Saudi Arabia now known as the
Khobar massacre where another terrorist attack takes place. A few armed men kill
a number non-Muslims and Americans. Dan, Maya, and Jessica watch the aftermath from the news.
Amidst their failure, the team bluffs Ammar into believing he had short-term memory loss and that
he had shared some information. Slightly changing tactics, Maya and Dan bring him out of confinement
and offer him more food while interrogating him in a more conversational manner. They wring out
information from Ammar as he reveals the names Hamza Rabia, Khabab al-Masri, and Abu Ahmed,
who were with him after the 9/11 attacks. He also reveals that his uncle worked for bin Laden once
and that Ammar had seen bin Laden in Karachi a year before. He claims that bin Laden read them a
letter from the Sheik saying to continue the jihad and that the work will go on for a hundred years.
Back at her workplace, Maya reviews old interrogation footages through the computer
monitor to gain more information on Abu Ahmed. Apparently, bin Laden carries out messages to
his followers through a network of messengers. She shares a brief conversation with Jessica
while taking a short break. Jessica tells her that everyone wants money to which Maya retorts
because Al-Qaeda members are radical enough to not be heavily motivated by financial rewards.
Maya later heads to a CIA Black Site in Poland due to a lead on Abu Ahmed.
She conceals her red hair with a dark-colored wig and talks to a prisoner through an interpreter and
fellow agent named Hakim. The prisoner tells them that he had contact with a man named Abu
Fahraj who also carries messages to and from bin Laden. The prisoner also confirms the supposed
system by bin Laden of carrying messages where Abu Ahmed takes the role of the computer guy
but has limited knowledge of him. Maya reports back to their CIA Station Chief Joseph Bradley
with this information. As much as she impresses Dan and her team, Bradley comments on the
ineffectiveness of her hunt for Abu Ahmed due to the lack of leads like his real name or location.
Maya sharply replies that the fact that everyone has heard of Abu Ahmed implies
that he is someone important. Bradley still commends her good work and tells Maya to let
him know when she gets some actionable intelligence which can lead to a strike.
In London on July 7, 2005, a double-decker bus explodes. This becomes the newest addition to
the terrorist attacks of Al-Qaeda. News footage of this London bombing flashes on the screens of
Bradley and Maya. The team keeps the pressure on and scatters around to gather more intel.
At another CIA black site in Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, Dan interacts with a monkey
and feeds him his ice cream while waiting for a detainee. Maya is accompanied in an
ISI Detention Center in Pakistan to interrogate another detainee. Throughout her interrogation,
the detainee cooperates with Maya regarding his knowledge of Al-Qaeda and his position
as the key financier in the organization. She learns that Abu Ahmed works for both Fahraj
and bin Laden and that he was a trusted courier but cannot be found because he has disappeared.
Meanwhile, Dan pursues Fahraj. He coordinates with the Pakistan police as they lure Fahraj
through a messenger who is about to meet with him. They strap an object around the
messenger’s leg and observe him on his way to meet Fahraj. At the same time, soldiers dressed in all
black prepare for an ambush and they succeed in cornering him. Bradley then informs Maya that
she has a one-on-one interrogation with Fahraj and leaves her with paperworks to accomplish.
Dan escorts Fahraj to a stuffy cell that is surrounded by barbed wires. After leaving
Fahraj starving 18 hours prior, Dan shoves blended food down his throat with the use of a funnel.
Fahraj completely denies knowing Abu Ahmed making it difficult for Maya during their one-on-one.
She asks Dan if he wants to take a run at him but Dan refuses, telling her that he wants to
do something normal. He offers her to get out of there and come back to Washington with him
to which Maya declines. She intends to continue her pursuit on Abu Ahmed and kill bin Laden. Dan
advices her to be more careful with the detainees at this point because politics are changing
and that she should keep an eye out especially now in Pakistan where everyone knows her.
The search goes on as the film moves forth to September 20, 2008. Jessica is waiting for Maya
inside a restaurant in Marriott Hotel in Pakistan. Jessica waves at Maya as soon as she arrives where
she apologizes for being delayed by the check points. Maya, seemingly busy with her phone is
reminded by Jessica that they are socializing. Maya then rids of her phone for the meantime and
drinks wine with her. Jessica expresses her worry on Maya’s continuous pursuit on Abu Ahmed, fearing
that Maya’s lead won’t compare to the effort she exerts. Maya, on the contrary, acknowledges
her progress. She clarifies that the fact that Fahraj denies Abu Ahmed reveals his importance.
Just then, a bomb goes off in front of the Marriott Hotel and heavily impacts the interior
of the place. Jessica and Maya lands on the floor after being pushed off their seats by the impact.
They quickly rush towards the exit on the kitchen, coming across a number of injured
and killed staff and diners, where they safely escape. News reveals that a truck driver carrying
bombs detonated more than 2,000 pounds of explosives after being stopped at a checkpoint.
A meeting of bin Laden’s inner circle commences on the Tribal Territories in Pakistan.
Much to the CIA’s luck, a Jordanian doctor who is a part of the inner circle named Humam Khalil
al-Balawi supposedly records this meeting. Jessica enthusiastically shows Maya the video
footage and consults Bradley. Bradley does not buy it knowing how nobody turns on Al-Qaeda.
Maya acknowledges that it could or could not be a lie but continues to point out
that the key is to meet the Jordanian doctor and figure out for themselves.
She, together with Jessica manage to gain Bradley’s approval to the meet-up.
Later that night, however, Jessica informs the team that the meeting with Balawi is called off
since he cannot come to Islamabad or any place else outside Al-Qaeda territory. An interview
of Obama plays out in the background regarding the moral standing of America in the middle of
their conversation. Balawi instead offers them to come with him to meet in Miranshah with the
Tribals to which Maya strongly disapproves, seemingly aware of the dangers. As a result,
both parties end up on a compromise and settles to meet in Camp Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan.
Jessica is thrilled to meet the Jordanian doctor,
who she considers as her first big break since the 9/11 attacks. She toasts with her fellow CIA
Agent John and expresses with conviction how she thinks that money is indeed persuasive.
She pushes through with the thought that the $25 million offer could potentially
lead Balawi into giving up bin Laden and that if he doesn’t then they’ll kill him.
It is now December 30, 2009. Jessica along with other interrogators wait for Balawi to arrive out
in their base. Jessica smokes to calm her nerves as she gives out instructions to John and the
rest of their team. Just when they figured Balawi will no longer come, a car is seen driving towards
the base and is stopped at a check point. As per their prior agreement, Jessica gives permission to
the car to proceed inside the base without being searched. The car gets inside the base and an old
man alights with his hands on his pockets. They fail to search the man and the vehicle. The man in
turn mumbles “Allahu Akbar” and before they know it, a bomb detonates which kills Jessica and John,
along with the rest of the guards and agents in the vicinity. Upon hearing the news,
Maya is shattered and lost in thought. To make matters worse, a colleague brings her the news
that her lead, Abu Ahmed, has been confirmed dead by one of the detainees who claims to have buried
Abu Ahmed himself in Kabul on 2001. Maya is on the verge of a breakdown when Jack appears
and offers her company. He asks her what she is going to do now to which Maya replies, with a new
found motivation, that she will smoke everybody involved in the operation and kill bin Laden.
After being called out by their senior CIA official George for their terrible
success rate during their meeting, one of Maya’s coworkers named Debbie gives her a
file on Ibrahim Sayeed, who has his big family involved in terrorist activities.
Debbie suggests that Ibrahim Sayeed could be Abu Ahmed’s real name and is just left
unnoticed due to all the white noise after the 9/11 arracks. Maya goes over the files on Abu
Ahmed once again and comes to a realization that Abu Ahmed is possibly alive, and that the facial
features associated with the supposedly dead Abu Ahmed was actually any one of his brothers.
She immediately calls Dan and requests for him to get her the Sayeed family’s phone number.
Dan grants Maya’s request and talks to The Wolf, a shadowy high-ranking official of the
U.S. Government. He requests for him to provide a sum of money for Maya’s lead to materialize.
Dan also advocates Maya’s capabilities in the field. The Wolf contemplates, saying that there is
a lot of inspection going on, but then he approves on supporting financially after Dan makes a deal
that he will run some operations under question and defend their methods of interrogation to the
oversight committee in return. Dan then heads over in Kuwait to ask for the phone number of
the Sayeed brothers’ mother through one of his contacts and gives him a Lamborghini
in exchange. Following through, Maya meets with Larry and soon, he and Hakim start tracking the
identity of the Sayeed brother who is most likely Abu Ahmed. Around the same time, an attempted car
bombing happened in NYC leaving Bradley on edge. Nonetheless, Maya is determined to find Abu Ahmed
and kill bin Laden, leading to her argument with Bradley. Bradley still thinks that her lead is
pointless and that he is more concerned with the upcoming attacks to which Maya strongly refutes.
She makes him choose between giving her a team or sending her back to D.C. and face a hearing
before the congress for dismissing the team’s efforts on killing bin Laden. Bradley is urged
to choose the former and send four techs each in the safe houses in Rawalpindi and Peshawar.
Maya begins to lead the team consisting of Larry, Hakim, Jack, and a few more agents
with the consent of Bradley as they trace their target through a cloned phone provided by Jack.
The following events show Bradley getting involved in a lawsuit done by
the intelligence agency of Pakistan. Pakistani protesters crowd in front of the CIA facility.
Bradley is also removed from his position. Meanwhile, the group of Larry, Hakim, and a third
tech agent continue to trace the signal through the cloned phone while driving around the city.
After much conflict, they manage to ID the owner of the cellphone and take a picture of him and
his vehicle. They tail their target’s vehicle for a while which leads them to a compound.
On another note, as much as they close in on Abu Ahmed and bin Laden’s location,
the armed terrorists counter-attack. Two armed men open fires Maya’s vehicle on her way to work.
Fortunately, the bulletproof windshields protect her and she avoids any injury.
The newly-appointed station chief reminds her that she is now on the terrorists’ list. Still, this
does not stop her from finishing her assignment. She figures that bin Laden and Abu Ahmed are both
staying on the compound that Larry and Hakim discovered. She, George, and another analyst
named Steve discuss this breakthrough with the CIA Director where he instructs them to confirm this
speculation by the end of the week, but instead the progress remains stagnant. Maya is frustrated
at how George takes too long to give the go-signal on commencing an operation in the compound.
George, on the other hand, works on convincing the National Security Agency regarding the compound
as bin Laden’s hideout. He tells them their various ineffective attempts into finding DNA
of the people in the compound. George proves the NSA that the behavior within the compound
shows that it can highly be the Al-Qaeda as they are too careful of their tracks.
This lead takes a hundred days before movement finally takes place. George, Maya, and Dan meet
with a SEAL team in Area 51 and Maya briefs them about their findings on bin Laden. Twenty-nine
days after, the CIA analysts together with the CIA Director settle their stand on Maya’s lead.
While having her lunch, the CIA director commends Maya for her skill.
On May 11, 2011, The CIA and the Navy SEAL gather in an operating base in Afghanistan for their
final preparations. George calls Maya signaling that the operation takes place that night. The
team consisting of Hakim and the SEALs spread out in three helicopters and surround the compound.
The SEALs point guns and kills anyone with a gun. Hakim leads on neutralizing and gathering
the locals in a corner through a megaphone. They go through every room, reaching the main building
until they discover a small room which appears to be an office with lots of computers and files.
Jared, who is one of the SEALs heads to the upper floors while calling out Osama. A man appears
after a while and Jared immediately shoots him. Patrick follows upstairs with a few more SEALs and
verifies the dead body’s ID, possibly bin Laden. They take the body along with the files stored in
the small office. Not long after, they leave the compound through the two remaining helicopters
and detonates the disabled third one. Back in the base, Maya is overwhelmed by
all the solid evidence and intel right before her, most importantly by the dead body who she confirms
as bin Laden. She heads outside, taking in the recent events as the SEALs cheer and congratulate
each other. At long last, the film ends with Maya boarding alone in a plane before weeping
out all pent-up emotions, in realization that her assignment has finally been accomplished.