Outside the Wire | 2021 Netflix Film Review

The United States is operating as “peacekeepers” in Eastern Europe amid a civil war in 2036, which means there are enemies coming from both sides of the troops. And on top of that, there is a ruthless criminal warlord, Viktor Koval (Pilou Asbæk), who seeks nuclear codes to cause mass destruction. Technology has come a long way for the military, as America now has robotic military members called “Gumps” being deployed alongside human soldiers. This sets the stage for an intellectually subtle debate on combining AI and human soldiers and what makes humans “human” in Outside the Wire.

Lieutenant Thomas Harp (Damson Idris) is three years into his stint as a UAV drone pilot for the U.S. Military, but his callous and arrogant demeanor would make you wonder what has made him so cold. While casually snacking on some gummy bears and tracking incoming enemies in this war zone, he identifies a truck and then dozens of combatants moving towards the U.S. soldiers. The Captain on the ground denies permission to air strike because he has men stuck out there he is actively trying to save. Disobeying direct orders, Harp makes what he considers to be a logical decision and air strikes anyhow – causing the death of two marines and one Gump. He believes his choice to be the right one because he saved 38 men and chalks the loss of the other two to war. His actions send him to an Ethics Committee who determine he will be deployed to those same grounds in order to teach him a lesson about compassion for his fellow service members.

At Camp Nathaniel, just before he gets his ass beat by the Captain’s squad, Harp meets up with Captain Leo (Anthony Mackie), a classified fourth generation biotech. Captain Leo is nothing like the Gump machinery, he is a working human alternative who is designed to follow human directives and a moral compass. Let’s just skip past the ethical concerns about who gets to decide what a moral compass is or isn’t, though. Harp’s initial reaction to Leo being biotech is shock and intrigue, but he also questions his ranking, as though maybe the two are partners. Captain quickly puts him in his place and reminds Harp that he is his subordinate and to do as he is told.

Captain Leo and Lt. Harp need to deliver vaccines for a cholera outbreak (bacterial disease, usually spread through water) 20 clicks out. This mission poses to be tricky because they will have to go outside the wire, which is commonly referred to as “running the gauntlet” because enemy attacks are so prevalent. However, Leo confides in Harp that this deliver mission is more than meets the eye. They will be meeting with someone who has intel on Viktor Koval, the man Leo has learned plans on making a nuclear attack within 24 hours. The rest of the film follows their mission to obtain the Koval intel and take him down, while also hiding this from the U.S. Military.

Mackie’s dominating performance on-screen is hard to beat, giving us much more than AI technology, but managing to make us trust him and then question that trust. He doesn’t portray Leo to be robotic in any sense, in fact, he feels more human than Harp does. Throughout Outside the Wire, we are forced to consider the philosophical question of what makes us humans. If it’s our moral compass, why do some differ from others, without making them any less human? And if so, wouldn’t Leo be human in some respect?

So much of Mackie’s character feels human and we often resonate more with him than we do Lt. Harp. This doesn’t discredit Idris’ work either, quite the opposite, because we watch as he transitions from a confident, stead-fast soldier to a mere boy scared at the war he is now in the middle of, and then so much more. Idris truly exemplifies all aspects of his character and the juxtaposition of these two characters, on top of their chemistry, makes for an incredibly enjoyable at-home viewing.

Maybe it’s my overall yearning for a movie theater experience again, but Outside the Wire seems like it’d be a good theater flick with friends. Especially for the moment when the film ends and everyone talks about what they liked, and you could discuss your theologies on this technology being in the military.

Aside from the conversation starters I’ve mentioned, Outside the Wire also takes a deeper look at the ramifications on the innocent communities following a bombing. Sure, you get the bad guy(s) or lady(ies), but at what cost? This lingering question about deciding whose life matters and whose doesn’t is run throughout the entirety of the film, in many senses. For what appears to be a pretty run-of-the-mill military flick merged with AI technology, what takes this film to the next ranking is its ability to smoothly interject internal debates without giving you “the answer”, which marks a great flick in my opinion. A well-done feat to director Mikael Håfström and writers Rowan Athale and Rob Yescombe.

While variations of this storyline exist, Outside the Wire is a worthwhile endeavor. It leans a bit heavy in the runtime, but the pacing manages to keep you engaged with our two stars and uncertainty as to where the story will end up at. If you’re one of the eight remaining people without access to Netflix, go Outside the Wire to subscribe and give this film a go of it.