An official selection at Tribeca, A24 has unveiled the intense first trailer for Dan Krauss’s The Kill Team, set to be released October 25. Inspired by Krauss’s documentary of the same name, The Kill Team conveys the trajectory of Andrew Briggman (Nat Wolff), a young soldier unaccustomed to active combat, having to circumvent an active war zone while also having to confront his superior officer Sergeant Deeks (Alexander Skarsgård), who manipulates his men to turn a blind eye to his various war atrocities as it is revealed that the sergeant is more than willing to kill the enemy for sport.
In his review, John Fink says, “The Kill Team is a psychological thriller with a large scope, exploring both “relationship building” and the battle for “hearts and minds” as much as “shock and awe.” Briggmann, like Winfield, is confronted with difficult decisions, deciding to turn on the killing machines that Deeks sets out to make in his own image. This version of The Kill Team is a visceral study in masculinity divorced largely from sexuality or even sexual identity. Killing in the name of revenge is just a way to both pass the time and prove you’re one of the tribe. Krauss packs a lot into what could be read as a prequel for his documentary, creating a brutal war on terror picture with a timely context. “
See the trailer and poster below.
When Andrew Briggman (Nat Wolff), a young soldier in the US invasion of Afghanistan, witnesses other recruits killing innocent civilians under the direction of a sadistic leader, Sergeant Deeks (Alexander Skarsgård), he considers reporting them to higher-ups but the heavily-armed, increasingly violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear that he’ll be the next target. From writer-director Dan Krauss, and based on the same events that inspired his award winning 2013 documentary of the same name, The Kill Team is an urgent and explosive recounting of one of the darkest incidents in the not-so-distant history of American military exploits.
A24 will release the film on October 25.