Miss Sloane

Once in a while, a film makes me lose all control. When a shocking development comes up, I can’t help but gasp out loud and when the villains get it, I erupt in cheers. “Miss Sloan” left me shaking, terrified and excited.

Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain, phenomenal) is a powerful, highly sought-after lobbyist who decides to advocate for universal background checks. By taking on private gun sales, she makes powerful enemies.

“Miss Sloane” is a rapid-fire story. If you dedicate less than your full attention towards it, you’ll be lost within a few minutes. This is a smart, complex film that explores much more than just gun control. It’s about the madness-inducing U.S. lobbying system, the mindset required to navigate it, and a fascinating character study all wrapped up in a political thriller that will alternatively enrage and make you want to cry.

I know that many Americans will point to the 27 words that compose the 2nd amendment with pride. If you ask me, guns are evil. Self-defense is one thing, but who needs an automatic weapon unless their objective is to massacre innocent civilians? I expected to enjoy the film because it’s “in the right”. There's much more to it. You’ve heard that there are wolves and sheep? This film proves that's not true. In life, there are humans and then there are killer robots. Cold, calculating machines who will use anything/anyone to get to the finish line. With her underhanded, dubiously-legal tactics, she would be the villain in any other film but she’s so good at what she does, you can’t help but admire her. Sloane is human, but she’s ruthless. When she allows emotion to rule her actions is when she’s most vulnerable, most ripe for being taken down by her opponents. She’s up against an armada, and while they’re playing the same game, you can’t help but feel consistently uneasy. All it takes is one slip for her entire strategy to come tumbling down. She and her allies simply don’t have the resources to clean up their image should a blemish come to the media’s attention.

It’s a nail-biter, a terrifying one because you know that what is happening here, it’s not fiction. You wish this story were true instead of coming from the mind of writer Jonathan Perera. Then you’d know who to go out into the streets and protest. I left “Miss Sloane” wanting to cry because it's almost unrelenting. As this film makes it abundantly clear, if school shootings haven’t convinced the U. S. into condemning weapons, nothing will. For all of the nuanced performances, the thought-provoking moments, the fear-inducing exchanges of dialogue, the shocking twists, I am compelled to give “Miss Sloane” a 5/5. (theatrical version on the big screen, December 20, 2016)