An ambitious reporter stationed in the Middle East is taken captive after her convoy is ambushed. She is confronted by the trauma of her past and must find a way to bring down the militants who incarcerated her.
“Wildcat” centers on Khadija (Georgina Campbell), an attractive spy posing as a foreign correspondent, currently being held prisoner in Iraq. For being kept unbathed in a dingy safehouse, Khadija’s makeup and hair look nice. Georgina’s cellmate is Luke (Luke Benward), a Marine who’s wounded – possibly reflecting on the useless war – declares, “I don’t want to die for nothing.” The two strangers begin to converse and plan a way out.
The pair’s captor, Abu Khalid (Mido Hamada), a smooth-talking militant leader clad in black, walks in and begins to question Khadija. Abu asks, “Why are you in Mosul? The embassies are hours away.” Suddenly, Abu grabs Khadija’s hand and rips out her thumbnail. I had a tough time buying Campbell’s acting, her American accent and reactions were flat.
Abu shares a heartbreaking story about how the US military firebombed his home and killed his only daughter. Khadija callously replies that Abu deserves it for attacking a US army barracks in Kuwait. Thankfully, writer-director Jonathan Stokes’ screenplay doesn’t demonize the leader, Abu points out he was defending his country against foreign invaders which shuts her up. Their conversation full of exposition and clichés cuts to the chase: Abu wants Khadija to walk him through every security detail of the US embassy so he can attack it. Khadija refuses to help him but her captors are determined to get the information by any means necessary.
Over hushed conversation, Khadija tells Luke they need to make a plan to take down their captors and escape. Luke says he knows she’s not a journalist and Khadija says they need to whisper since they’re most likely being surveilled. This made me laugh since they were just loudly speaking about turning the tables on their captors. Stokes’ script is basically a bottle episode – a lot of sitting around and talking in one room – it never changes location and ends up feeling like an extended TV pilot. Stokes goes for gasps with his torture scenes (but they look fake and become repetitive).
For all its inconsistencies, there’s an insightful moment. The mindset of invading imperialists feeling victimized is something that’s happened for years, ever since the failed Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, Hollywood has continued to churn out this angle. While US forces are still dropping bombs on Iraq, hopefully, Hollywood ceases dropping cinematic bombs like this one!
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