Don Shanahan
Not to play the school teacher around here any more than I already do, but sometimes documentaries require homework, where a deeper dive into sources and background information is needed to grasp the chosen subject. On other occasions, documentaries are precisely the curated homework one needs to get a fuller picture of a topic at hand. Springboarding from the alarming and infamous historical events of January 6, 2021 with an eye towards improvement, the new documentary film War Game can fit both of those inquiries characterizing homework.
For many, when the U.S. Capitol was attacked three years ago by a seditious mob of Pro-Donald Trump supporters trying to halt the certification of the 2020 Presidential election and overturn the results, a level of the unthinkable happened for many appalled witnesses, both present in Washington, D.C. and watching from afar. When the dust settled, pundits and citizens alike, and rightfully so, called preparedness into question on how such a thing—unthinkable or not—could have happened. While over 1,300 criminal charges have been made leading to 500 prison terms, the aftermath called for new planning and operational readiness on several fronts.
One such refinement exercise was the setting for War Game’s observational cameras and interviews. On January 6, 2023, the non-partisan veterans organization Vet Voice conducted a private national security training module with volunteers comprised of not actors, but retired high-ranking military officers including three generals, former soldiers, intelligence agents, and sitting United State senators. Looking towards the upcoming sure-to-be contentious 2024 election and therefore working in a reality greater and more tangible than the popular 1983 Matthew Broderick vehicle with the same name, Vet Voice’s goal with the war games activity was to think about the unthinkable and simulate a more severe insurrection with the goal of putting new post-2021 preparedness to the stress test.
The simulation captured by the invited filmmakers of War Game was produced by former U.S. Marine Janessa Goldbeck and designed by Ben Radd of Fascination Lab with consultation from retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a key figure fired by The White House after testifying in Trump’s second impeachment. The inciting incident is defeated fictional presidential candidate Gov. Robert Strickland (actor Chris Henry Coffey) looking to halt the certification of the election with the support of a church-centered right-wing extremist group named the Order of Columbus, embodied and engineered by U.S. Army veteran Kris Goldsmith as the Red Cell Leader. Using social media to organize civilian militia and stump speeches to stoke misinformational fires cloaked in so-called faith and purpose, Strickland’s supporters have descended on the U.S. Capitol, repeating the scenario of 2021.
However, the scope of participation for War Game is greater in this attempted coup with the added ingredient of statistically accurate extremism and closeted white supremacy found and exploited within multiple branches of the United States military. As you may or may not know (going back to the notion of homework), one in five defendants in the Capitol riot cases in 2021 served in the armed forces. In Radd’s game, the right-wing rhetoric has ignited and turned a sizable percentage of active U.S. military personnel to break their constitutional oaths in favor of acting with the Order of the Columbus. With trained manpower and precariously available firepower pushing the protests to a whole new brink, numerous state capital buildings around the nation are now equally besieged with the same dangerous threats.
Tasked with fielding calls for federal assistance from this massive incident with a six-hour time limit is an assembled group of dignitaries filling the seats of a recreated White House war room. Leading the charge is former Montana Governor Steve Bullock playing the narrowly victorious President John Hotham. His closest advisors are recent North Dakota U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp and retired Gen. Wesley Clark— the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and 2004 presidential candidate with the largest notoriety in the room—portraying the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Also filling chairs and orbiting the acting President’s ears are retired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan as the northern commander, retired Major Gen. Linda L. Singh as the head of the Maryland National Guard, former Deputy Chief of Staff Elizabeth Neumann as the Homeland Security Advisor, former Alabama U.S. Senator Doug Jones as the Attorney General, and FBI agent Peter Strzok playing the FBI Director. Beyond the initial catalyst, everything afterwards is thrillingly unscripted.
As the experimental situation escalates in War Game, the strongest countermeasure at the President’s disposal is the vaunted Insurrection Act of 1807. Invoking that federal law empowers the President to deploy military and national guard troops without typical limitations to suspend civil liberties in order to neutralize rebellions and severe civil disorder. The Insurrection Act is the thickest “break glass in case of emergency” move, and it has been used 30 times in the nation’s history, last occurring during the 1992 Los Angeles riots during tenure of George H. Bush. In the wrong Commander-in-Chief’s hands, the unleashing of military forces can make a bad situation worse, especially against a citizen group in War Game’s case that claims religious exemption. Delicacy and politics are out the window after that point.
Making the most of their invitation to document this exercise, War Game directors Tony Gerber (The Notorious Mr. Bout) and Jesse Moss (Girls State) add a varnish of filmic aspects to give the proceedings a suspenseful energy and cinematic heft. The splicing of archival footage, social media interfaces, TV special reports delivered by CNN anchor Isha Sesay, and exterior establishing shots from the National Mall by editor Jeff Gilbert extend the setting’s scope. While no one on display left their respectively equipped and assigned conference rooms, the five cinematographers of War Game were there to capture the gathering sweat on multiple brows and record sidebar testimonials of the participants. The spine-tingling icing on the cake was EO composer Pawel Mykietyn’s tense electronic score pacing the ticking clock of the game.
The end result of War Game is a fascinating experience that jarringly resucitates the palpable unease felt back in 2021. Hearing experts dissect the competing agendas of chaos agents and prudent leaders with educated security experience brings forth a resolute sternness and a rooting interest for the viewer. If there’s one portion of this documentary missing or unrepresented, it’s allowing a little bit more debrief or coda at the end to hear the collaborative discussion of what worked and what didn’t in more revelatory detail and scrutiny. Nevertheless, the stances of all involved give War Game an affirming edge. To see these folks come together and put this kind of strenuous work in to make this simulation matter as a guide for future leaders going forward is a testament to their genuine loyalty and dedication to their country.
