Beirut

Director: Brad Anderson
Screenwriters: Tony Gilroy

Institute History

  • 2018 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Mason Skiles (Jon Hamm), a top U.S. diplomat, left Lebanon in the 1970s after a tragic incident. Ten years later, the CIA calls him back to a war-torn Beirut with a mission only he can accomplish. Meanwhile, a CIA field agent who is working undercover at the American embassy is tasked with keeping Skiles alive and ensuring that the mission is a success. Without knowing who is on his side and with lives on the line, Skiles must outmaneuver everyone to expose the truth.

From acclaimed screenwriter Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, the Bourne series), Beirut is an intelligent and gripping political thriller exploring the question “whom can you trust in a time of war?” Director Brad Anderson (The Machinist), returning with his sixth feature at the Sundance Film Festival, tells a taut, strikingly entertaining story and gets thrilling performances from Hamm and Rosamund Pike. Though the plot has many layers, Anderson deftly weaves everything together with a controlled style that makes Beirut a riveting film packed with intrigue and suspense.


— T.G.

Screening Details

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