22 July movie review - Aussieboyreviews

WILL VIEWERS FEEL THE REAL INTENSITY OF 22 JULY?

22 July is a violent, intense and moving drama based on Norway’s 2011 terrorist attack. This movie is entertaining and well-crafted, with excellent performances and very strong themes.

Storyline

The grieving families and courtroom action in the aftermathof Norway’s deadliest terrorist attack in which seventy-seven people are massacred by an extremist at a youth camp in 2011.

Movie Images

Movie details

Director: Paul Greengrass
Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Jonas Strand Gravli, Jon Øigarden, Maria Bock, Isak Bakli Aglen, Seda Witt, Thorbjørn Harr, Ola G. Furuseth
Writer: Paul Greengrass
Release Date (Australia): 10 October 2018
Runtime: 143 minutes/2h 23m
Genre: Drama, Crime, History
Country: USA
Language: English

CONTENT GUIDE (warning: May contain spoilers)

Themes (MA15+)

Thematic material includes a sustained sequence that features a mass shooting and scenes that feature depictions of surgical procedures.

Violence (MA15+)

The film contains strong violence in the form of people being shot, sometimes accompanied by graphic sprays of blood. There are also graphic depictions of bloody injury detail including gunshot wounds.

Coarse Language (M)

The film contains use of words such as “f**king”, “s**t” and “hell”.

mpaa rating

R (for disturbing violence, graphic images, and language)

Aussie boy's thoughts

It’s a very strong dramatisation of Norway’s 2011 terrorist attack, with a sustained and extremely intense massacre sequence, followed by engrossing performances, emotions and entertaining courtroom/lawyer action. The last hour or so is when the film starts to lose its energy and slow down a lot, but the entire film is intense, gripping and quite watchable.

22 July begins with an attempt to properly connect us with the story and characters for about 20 minutes, and it gets us into the story but we don’t feel as attached to the characters as we do during  the big massacre and in the devastating aftermath. There’s obviously sustained shooting sequence that’s very graphic, intense and absolutely horrifying, but then the rest of the movie is dedicated to the rest. of the case involving court and lawyers.

This movie is just a superb court case drama; there’s realistic lawyers, lots of intensity and excitement with the case and the performances from the whole Norwegian cast is very, very memorable. This is another movie with immensely underrated actors and performances. But with the heavy subject matter also comes superb direction. Paul Greengrass shoots this film in a very dark and cold tone, suiting the setting and delivering full effect.

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