September 5 is a movie that has arrived at an interesting time. We’ve seen films depict the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis before, most notably Steven Spielberg’s Munich. However, for obvious reasons, the timing of September 5’s release makes it stand out more than if it were released three years ago. It’s inevitably risky for any piece of media to depict or discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, what may surprise you about September 5 is that it’s not necessarily a political movie that takes a clear stance. Instead, like many fact-based docudramas such as Argo, September 5 is more interested in telling a story, not a message that could be viewed as pro-Israel. In fact, director Tim Fehlbaum’s movie has a message that is more aimed at the media, and how they address tragedy. The movie isn’t built upon regurgitating cable news talking points about Israel and Palestine that depict the conflict as something that’s merely black-and-white. Instead, September 5 decides to shine a light on the process of reporting the events, and the morally gray tactics of the news team at the center of the narrative.

What Is ‘September 5’ About?

One of the most compelling aspects of September 5 is that it largely takes place within a newsroom. The movie begins on September 5, 1972, as the news team at ABC Sports is ready for another day of covering the Summer Olympics in Munich. Producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) oversees the broadcast while taking orders from ABC sports executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), as German crew member Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch) works as their translator. Their broadcast is disrupted when it is reported that shots have been fired in the Olympic village as a terrorist group who call themselves “Black September” are holding the Israeli team hostage. Arledge chooses to defy the orders of the ABC bigwigs, who plead with him to let the ABC News team cover the events, by ordering Mason to lead the report.

Fehlbaum makes sure we don’t actually see the carnage happening. Instead we only hear about it through dialogue and other newscasts, which helps hammer the movie’s message home even more. September 5 takes place entirely within the ABC Sports newsroom. At the heart of the film is the idea that the media will often use real-life tragedies and human lives for their gain and how they force themselves to desensitize their immediate reaction to violence.

‘September 5’ Captures the Chaos and Intensity of a Newsroom
Image via Paramount Pictures

Despite the movie’s 90-minute runtime being relegated to one location, Fehlbaum’s direction and the way he shoots simple dialogue scenes make the narrative play out like a fast-paced thriller. Anyone who has read a history book knows what happened. We already know that the rescue attempt was a failure and that the events cost the lives of 12 innocent people. Yet, September 5 still is able to build this escalating feeling of dread that won’t leave you or the reporters on-screen for the entire runtime.

Sarsgaard and Magaro are able to accurately convey the uncertainty of Arledge and Mason, two newsmen who have spent their careers covering sports, not violent conflicts. As Arledge battles the executives, Mason scrambles to make sure that his team reports only the facts, which makes their inevitable slip-up of falsely reporting that some of the athletes had been rescued feel like a punch in the gut. Meanwhile, Marvin Bader’s (Ben Chaplin) Jewish identity brings a sense of humanity to the newsroom, giving the audience somebody who realizes the weight of the events from the very beginning.

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September 5 is at its best in its attempts to capture the chaos within the newsroom, and the feeling of helplessness from those reporting on the crisis. The screenplay, which Fehlbaum co-wrote with Moritz Binder and Alex David, doesn’t waste any time diving into any of the characters’ backgrounds, except for Bader and Gebhardt, who we learn some pieces of information about through dialogue. Almost all of the movie’s conflict comes from the hostage crisis, but not in the ways you might expect.

‘September 5’ Feels Apolitical To a Fault
Image via Paramount Pictures

Obviously, September 5was made well before the War on Gaza escalated to where it is currently. Yet, while watching the movie, it is impossible to ignore current events. While it does feel like a necessary decision for the filmmakers not to take a definite stance, the lack of any sort of political undertones does feel jarring at times. The movie repeats Black September’s demands for Israel to free its Palestinian hostages, but at the same time, it refuses to elaborate on how the conflict between the two nations got to that point. While the Munich hostage crisis is already a well-documented case, the movie expects us to already know some of the more in-depth details as well.

While the movie’s apolitical stance at times feels detrimental to its emotional impact, the themes about the media’s apathy do provide some truly chilling moments. It’s not that September 5 is an angry movie — it isn’t. It’s well aware that the team at ABC Sports revolutionized the news industry. But it also portrays them as morally gray. It’s disgusting how a person can view death and destruction as simply just part of the job, but that’s the quagmire that Mason has to face on September 5.

Without giving away too much, September 5 ends Mason’s story in such a fascinating way that it makes you wish that the movie took more of a stance. After witnessing the worst of humanity, Mason is a changed man, but he also did his job pretty damn well. The way the movie concludes his arc feels abrupt. We spent the whole film without a true leading star to really latch onto, and just as things are about to get a little more interesting, it cuts to black.

September 5 is a tough movie to look at without thinking about what’s currently happening in Gaza, and it’s even stranger that this movie was not only filmed before the events escalated but that it doesn’t take a clear stance. As your run-of-the-mill newsroom thriller, September 5 proves to be a riveting watch with two stand-out performances from Sarsgaard and Magaro and compelling direction from Fehlbaum. But considering we’ve already seen the events captured on film before, in Spielberg’s Munich, it also doesn’t feel as fresh as it thinks it is, even if the concept of the story unfolding entirely through the newsroom is a different approach.

September 5 releases in select theaters on December 13, 2024.

September 5 captures an intense enough atmosphere to keep you watching, but it’s refusal to take a stance prevents it from leaving an impact.ProsDespite the movie being set in one-location, September 5 manages to create tension easily.John Magaro and Peter Sarsgaard deliver two stand-out performances as Geoffrey Mason and Roone Arledge.The movie has some interesting ideas about the media’s role in real-world tragedies. ConsThe movie’s agressively apolitical stance leaves you feeling empty by the time the credits roll.

Release Date November 29, 2024 Director Tim Fehlbaum Cast Peter Sarsgaard , John Magaro , Ben Chaplin , Leonie Benesch , Daniel Adeosun , Corey Johnson , Solomon Mousley , Georgina Rich , Marcus Rutherford , Zinedine Soualem , Benjamin Walker , Robert Porter Templeton , Rony Herman Runtime 91 Minutes Writers Tim Fehlbaum , Moritz Binder Expand

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