Syriana
Directed by Stephen Gaghan
- drama
- thriller
The story
The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman, a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.
What it’s like
Desaturated, sun-bleached desert and dim corporate interiors, shot with handheld, documentary-style restlessness: grainy cutaways, cramped car interiors, hotel suites lit by flat fluorescent and the cold blue of monitors, then sudden stretches of blinding Gulf sunlight. The score by Alexandre Desplat hums with low, unsettled strings and percussive pulses rather than melody, so the sound itself feels like pressure building under a surface. Vibe: paranoid, weary, morally grey. It suits a late weeknight when you want to be absorbed rather than comforted, or a long flight where the scenes can be picked up and set down. The pace is dense and intercut, with several interlocking threads that move at a deliberate, unhurried clip, and the emotional register stays cool and sombre throughout. Its men are compromised professionals slowly confronting what their jobs cost them and others. Violence is brief but sharp: a few sudden, startling deaths and a bombing, with no lingering gore, though the threat of it hangs over long stretches. For viewers who want serious, adult political thrillers with ambiguity and no easy heroes.
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