This depiction of 1972 hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympics, seen through the eyes of the US ABC sports broadcasting crew was one of my most keenly anticipated films of 2025 and it may yet end up being my favourite of the year.
Bearing in mind this an occurrence I know pretty well, and have watched Kevin MacDonald’s brilliant documentary, One Day in September, several times, it is to the credit of the makers that they have produced such an engrossing and tension packed drama. The screenplay by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David presents the events in a matter of fact way, whilst providing the needed emotional impact.
Fehlbaum directs with a gritty realism and his decision to show only the impact of the bloody denouement on the team rather than the action itself was inspired. I have seen come critics claim that concentrating so much on the TV crew minimises the atrocity but that is not something I agree with. The tensions between the people there as they have to make agonising decisions and the level of technical ingenuity they display – something that I found reminiscent of Apollo 13 – adds to the fascination.
The cast is faultless. Peter Sarsgaard is top billed but his is a supporting role with the excellent John Magaro, as the inexperienced control room head, Geoffrey Mason, taking centre stage. Ben Chaplin brings gravitas as Marvin Bader, the head of operations and Leonie Benesch, who was fantastic in The Teacher’s Lounge last year, is best of the lot as a translator, conscious stricken by Germany’s past.
Binder, Fehlbaum and David secured the film’s only Oscar nomination, though they have practically no chance of winning. The fact that Benesch was not nominated was a travesty. This is a fresh and gripping take on a terrible event.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10