Imperium Review

Imperium

Plot

Daniel Radcliffe plays Nate Foster a police officer who goes undercover to infiltrate a neo-Nazi terrorist cell plotting a chemical attack on a water supply.

Performances

I will preface this review by saying I was never a fan of the “Harry Potter” series I won’t go in depth into why now (maybe later) a particular low point however in the series I found to be the titular main character I always thought he was under-developed and one note, it gave very little chance for an actor to give a performance. By this role alone it was difficult to say the least to gage how competent and actor Daniel Radcliffe is. I’m pleased to ay in this film he knocks it out of the park and shows if you give him something to work with he can give a great performance. The role of Nate foster is a role split in to there is of course Nate Foster police officer and Nate Thomas undercover Neo-Nazi skin head. Nate Thomas is all about the subtle emotions, Radcliffe has to establish the character is fearful for his life but in such a way as the other characters don’t catch on to it. It’s always a joy to watch an actor play an actor a performance that multifaceted not many actors could pull off especially while acting outside your native accent.

Don’t think I’m giving all the credit to Daniel Radcliffe the supporting cast offer equally enveloping performances. Chris Sullivan plays Andrew Blackwell a Neo-Nazi leader, he plays the character with such conviction he’s genuinely intimidating to view. His performance is stark contrast to a lot of the other characters in the movement who play it very loud and aggressively. Sullivan’s performance is: quiet, calculating and cold he gives the impression that he could explode at any time and the suspense for when it might happen is breath taking. Chris Sullivan is definitely an actor to look out for in the future.

Theming

The film plays with your expectations by humanizing the villains. Makes a case for why sometimes even intelligent people can become embroiled in a poisonous hateful ideology and discusses what fears are prayed on to create such hatred. This is one of the most powerful films I've seen in a very long time because of this, it is remarked by Daniel’s character that another character in the group is out of place among the violent skin-heads. This character is well mannered doesn’t swear and keeps a happy family but under this clean exterior is the same hate. This demonstrates that hatred is not always in plain sight and can come from just about anywhere.

Tension

I touched on this briefly when discussing the performance aspect of the film but I would honestly argue that imperium has a shot for the best horror film of the year as unlike other films about undercover cops imperium really goes all out to explain the danger Daniel’s character is in during several scenes Daniel’s character is being lead down a line of questioning that would seem to be leading to his discovery I found myself on the edge of my seat afraid to look on at multiple occasions throughout the film. A particularly unnerving scene occurs between Nate and Andrew Blackwell (Chris Sullivan), both characters are stood near a waterfall and just had an already tense conversation on the topic of infiltrators. At this point Doubt has already been cast at the authenticity of Nate conviction to the cause, it’s such an effective scene and both actors give off such a stellar performance.

Conclusion

Imperium is an intense a powerful look at fear and the way charismatic people can exploit those fears in order to create loyal soldiers for their hateful ideology. I found the entire experience captivating from beginning to end, it was disturbing in the way it played with your expectations and stirred strong feelings of melancholy and disgust. I truly cannot recommend this film enough if you haven’t seen it make it a priority to remedy this as soon as possible.

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