McVeigh (now streaming on VOD platforms like Amazon Prime Video) is essentially an anti-biopic. Directed by Mike Ott, the film dramatizes the weeks leading up to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City by domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh, played with steely-eyed intensity by Alfie Allen (of Game of Thrones fame). The film, debuting just prior to the 30th anniversary of the attack that killed 168 people and eventually led to McVeighâs execution, the first conducted by the U.S. government in 38 years. Not that we see the story through to that point â this is a quiet, observational film that studies its subject intently, as if itâs seeking answers to unanswerable questions.Â
MCVEIGH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Timothy McVeigh (Allen) isnât much for small talk. Or any kind of talk â hellos, goodbyes, apologies. During daily interactions, he cuts to the point efficiently with ruthless pragmatism, although heâs not aggressive; the casual observer might find him withdrawn and, at worst, slightly rude. He drives his battered old Ford and gets pulled over for speeding, and his expression never changes, all passive acceptance. He parks at a gun show and barely looks up from his reading when like-minded firearms aficionados plunk down two bucks for one of his bumper stickers and compliment their anti-government slogans. You couldnât pry a thank you from the guy with a crowbar. And a smile? Forget it. Not happening.
McVeigh goes home to his battered old mobile home and stares inexpressively at a TV news report about the Waco massacre, then points his pistol at the visage of Attorney General Janet Reno. He drops by the federal prison to visit Richard Snell (Tracy Letts), whoâs on death row for a pair of racially motivated murders; Snell talks about how he once plotted to bomb the Murrah building, but he interpreted a mishap with explosives as a message from God to not follow through with it. These two men seem to have a longstanding rapport based on similar ideologies. Snell is set to be executed on April 11, the two-year anniversary of the Waco incident, and he sees it as a slap in the face. McVeigh doesnât say much, but he kind of doesnât have to â Snell can smell it on him, the rage and disillusionment. âCareful now,â Snell warns him.
Somehow, McVeigh scores a date with Cindy (Ashley Benson), a waitress at a local diner. Best explanation is, he spotted her at the gun range, so they have something in common. They have drinks, and he finally speaks more than a handful of words at a time â how else could he get her back to his place? He works the gun show circuit, and the one constant at every gathering is a visit from Frederic (Anthony Carrigan), a French-Canadian white supremacist; Frederic smells it on him, too. McVeigh already has an ally in Terry Nichols (Brett Gelman), a nervous type with a combover and what appears to be what we used to call a mail-order bride; he fills in the pregnant pauses with eccentric chatter. Terry shows him what a few simple ingredients in a plastic bottle can do: explode violently. So the two men start gathering materials. Â
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Sharlto Copley played Ted âThe Unabomberâ Kaczynski in 2021âs Ted K, a similarly unsettling portrait of a ruthless domestic terrorist.Â
Performance Worth Watching: Allen pulls off a tricky maneuver here â finding a way to communicate to the audience via an inexpressive character. His face doesnât show much, but we always sense the gears turning and anger simmering behind his eyes.
Memorable Dialogue: Cindy: âGo fâ yourself, Tim.â
Sex and Skin: Nothing notable.
Our Take: You wonât be surprised to learn that McVeigh isnât a pleasant watch, even though it doesnât depict a single act of physical violence. Its silence feels deadly, though, and the mundane ambient sounds of traffic or clinking silverware takes on an eerie tone when McVeigh is in the room. Ott â co-writing with Alex Gioulakis â puts all his efforts into creating atmospherics. And if you broaden the definition of the term from âtone of a movieâ to something greater, something that seeps out of the screen to reflect modern American life, itâs about the sociological atmosphere capable of fostering the type of ideological sentiment that can inspire a detached individual to commit mass murder. The film plays out with a sense of slow-ballooning dread tension, to the point where a real-time shot in which McVeigh sits in a truck waiting for the red light to change is all but unbearable.
That approach makes McVeigh an understated, but challenging and deeply discomfiting film. Of course, itâs an act of assumption, Ott fictionalizing the Snell-McVeigh interactions, but keying in on the it-probably-isnât-a-coincidence truth that Snellâs execution occurred mere hours after the bombing. The bulk of the filmâs chilling effectiveness rides on Allen, who implies character complexity with very few words â his stare precision-cuts through the frame like a razor â and keys on the directorâs show-donât-tell methodology. You could say it reflects McVeighâs own method, because his reprehensible actions spoke louder than anything bellowed over the pulpit or airwaves. Feeling unheard, unseen and unappreciated likely fed his sociopathy. Now, why would anyone want to spend 90 minutes with this dull, personality-free asshole? That may be precisely the filmâs point.
Our Call: McVeigh is a tough sell, and far from âentertaining.â But as a snapshot of a reprehensible human being, itâs an effective and upsetting reflection of the way things were in America, and continue to be. STREAM IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘McVeigh’ on VOD, a Chillingly Quiet Portrait of An Infamous Domestic Terrorist appeared first on Decider.
