Movie

Unthinkable

Name: Unthinkable
Released: 2010

2010 • Crime, Drama, Thriller

Woke Score

out of 10

Plot

A convert to Islam sends the U.S. government a tape showing him in three nondescript storage rooms, each of which may contain a nuclear bomb set to detonate in less than a week. Helen Brody, an FBI agent in L.A., is tasked with finding the bombs while a CIA "consultant," known as H, interrogates the suspect who has allowed himself to be caught. The suspect, whose wife and children have left him and disappeared, seems to know exactly what the interrogation will entail. Even as H ratchets up the pressure, using torture over Brody's objection, the suspect doesn't crack. Should H do the unthinkable, and will Brody acquiesce? Is any Constitutional principle worth possible loss of life?

Overall Series Review

The movie centers on a moral dilemma about the use of extreme torture to prevent a nuclear catastrophe. FBI Agent Helen Brody represents the rule of law and constitutional principles, while the CIA interrogator, H, employs brutal methods to extract the locations of three nuclear bombs from the suspect, Steven Younger, a US citizen and convert to Islam. The narrative traps the audience in a high-stakes, ticking-clock scenario, forcing a confrontation between upholding foundational legal principles and the utilitarian goal of saving millions of lives. The plot is less about traditional thriller action and more about the psychological and ethical toll of absolute moral compromise on American institutions. The film does not offer easy answers, presenting a challenging and often uncomfortable exploration of the cost of security in the post-9/11 era.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics3/10

The main villain is a white American former Delta Force soldier who converted to Islam, challenging a simple racial narrative for terrorism. The moral conscience upholding the Constitution is a white woman. The ruthless operative who performs the torture is a black man. Character roles are determined by their position in the intense ethical and ideological debate, not based on race or intersectional hierarchy.

Oikophobia8/10

The terrorist’s motivation explicitly criticizes US foreign policy as oppressive, demanding an end to support for dictatorships and a troop withdrawal. The plot shows the US security state and military immediately violating its own foundational laws and principles by sanctioning torture in a black site. This frames the home culture’s institutions as fundamentally flawed and willing to deconstruct the Constitution when challenged.

Feminism7/10

Special Agent Helen Brody is a highly competent FBI leader whose authority and principled legal approach are repeatedly undermined by callous male superiors and the male CIA consultant, H. She serves as the film's main moral compass, making the central conflict a clash between the principled female leader and the toxic, male-dominated resort to violence. Her career is the sole focus of her life.

LGBTQ+1/10

The plot focuses entirely on counter-terrorism, torture, and legal ethics. There is no presence of alternative sexual ideologies, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or discussions of gender theory.

Anti-Theism5/10

The core of the plot is an intense debate over secular, utilitarian ethics: whether the ends (saving lives) justify the means (torture). This conflict operates in a spiritual vacuum where morality is subjective and situational. Traditional religious faith is only present as the ideology of the terrorist, whose conversion to Islam is the catalyst for his political violence, but there is no direct attack on Christian faith.