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Audience Member The Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi does a surprisingly good job in the very serious role of a Guantanamo detainee on trial via the military's CSRT system. Based on the transcripts of real-life CSRT proceedings, I immediately recognized lines spoken by detainees I've studied, including (I think) Binyam Mohammed, whose trial was described in great detail in Clive Stafford Smith's excellent book, "Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side." Highlighted here are many of the CSRT's ridiculous shortcomings, such as the inability for the detainee to simply see the "top secret" evidence brought against him. The second half of the film does not fare as well as the first, unfortunately, as it focuses on the deliberation of the three military officials who questioned the detainee in the first half. The filmmakers pack a lot of information and arguments for and against the CSRT system into this short film, and most of it comes in this scene. Unfortunately, a great deal of it feels as though it's being read straight off a script page. Every once in awhile, you almost expect one of the actors to look at the camera and say, "This is America. We can do better than this." It's a bit hokey from time to time toward the end, but the first half makes the film a very worthwhile watch. More important than the film's production, however, is the number of questions it raises. Without a film like this, many people probably wouldn't know nearly as much about the terrible CSRT system, so I am very thankful for its existence. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member It was kinda heavy handed. Like when they had the whole policy debate after the hearing. But it was pretty solid for a short film like this I guess. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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