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The Messenger
2009 113 min United States of America R 18+
★7.7
Drama, Romance
Director: Oren Moverman
Trailers
Description
Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who has returned home from Iraq, is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Montgomery is partnered with Captain Tony Stone, to give notice to the families of fallen soldiers. The Sergeant is drawn to Olivia Pitterson, to whom he has delivered news of her husband’s death.
Budget:
$6.5M
US Gross:
$1.11M
Worldwide:
$1.6M
Starring
Ben Foster
Actor
Samantha Morton
Actor
Woody Harrelson
Actor
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival 2009
— Peace Film Award
Berlin International Film Festival 2009
— Silver Bear – Best Screenplay
Academy Awards 2010
— Best Supporting Actor
Golden Globe 2010
— Best Supporting Actor
Berlin International Film Festival 2009
— Peace Film Award
Berlin International Film Festival 2009
— Golden Bear
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2010
— Best Supporting Actor
Berlin International Film Festival 2009
— Silver Bear – Best Screenplay
Key opinion
The Messenger is widely praised for its raw, unflinching depiction of the psychological toll of military death notification duty. While most critics laud the powerful performances and its unique, non-combat focus on war's aftermath, some viewers find the narrative structure manipulative or emotionally hollow.
| Acting | Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson deliver master-class, emotionally resonant performances that define the film's gritty realism. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay earns distinction for shifting the focus from the battlefield to the rarely explored, harrowing bureaucracy of notifying bereaved families. | |
| Emotion | The film demands significant emotional endurance, leaving viewers divided on whether its heavy-handed approach to grief is profound or merely manipulative. | |
| Pacing | Opinions on the narrative flow are polarized; some find the pacing appropriately relentless, while others feel it lacks substance and struggles to maintain a consistent thread. | |
| Screenplay | The inclusion of a romantic subplot receives mixed reactions, with some seeing it as a humanizing element and others finding the dialogue forced or detrimental to the film’s tone. |