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Dirty Angels
Movie

Dirty Angels

2024 • Unknown

Woke Score
3
out of 10

Plot

During the United States' 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, a group of female soldiers posing as medical relief are sent back in to rescue a group of kidnapped teenagers caught between ISIS and the Taliban.

Overall Series Review

Dirty Angels is a military action thriller focusing on an elite, mostly female team sent covertly into Afghanistan to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls. The film centers on the lead soldier, Jake, who is motivated by a past trauma and a quest for redemption. The narrative is criticized for being a generic 'shoot-em-up' with thinly drawn characters and a superficial handling of its geopolitical and gender themes. The movie is fundamentally an Americentric rescue mission that pits the team against the 'cartoonishly evil' forces of ISIS and the Taliban. It leans heavily on the premise of an all-female unit, but reviewers note the execution avoids explicit 'girl power' commentary, portraying the women as traditionally tough, fallible soldiers.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics3/10

The team composition is racially and ethnically diverse, but characters are defined by their military skills, such as ‘Geek’ or ‘The Bomb,’ rather than by immutable characteristics or intersectional hierarchy. The plot does not contain an overt lecture on systemic oppression or the vilification of white males. The core focus remains on military competency and the mission itself.

Oikophobia2/10

The film adopts an Americentric view, positioning US operatives and their local allies as the unambiguous heroes protecting the innocent from foreign extremist threats like ISIS and the Taliban. Institutions like the US military and intelligence community, despite a failed initial rescue attempt, represent a necessary force for good in the face of chaos.

Feminism6/10

The core of the movie's concept is the 'Girl Boss' trope, relying on an all-female special operations unit to execute a mission in a region where women's rights are oppressed. However, the lead character is not a perfect 'Mary Sue' and is actively struggling with guilt and a need for redemption. The women are written as generic action heroes who suffer casualties, and the narrative largely avoids heavy-handed 'girl power' or anti-male messaging.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative does not center sexual identity or contain any lecturing on gender ideology. An actress who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community is cast, but her character is involved in a heterosexual relationship that is irrelevant to the overall plot, indicating no political injection of queer theory.

Anti-Theism2/10

The antagonists are specific religious fundamentalist groups, ISIS and the Taliban, whose evil is defined by violent, immoral actions like kidnapping and murder. This is a critique of a violent ideology, not a general attack on faith or Western religion, and the plot establishes a clear, objective moral truth: the rescue of the innocent is a righteous act.