“Zero Dark Thirty” opens with the sounds of frantic emergency calls from people trapped inside the World Trade Center. Their cries for help to dispatchers, played over a black screen, is a shocking reminder of the horrors of 9/11, and sets the tone for what is to come – the brutal and riveting retelling of the dark paths and dead ends this country traveled in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the man responsible for those attacks.

What makes “Zero Dark Thirty”, a film with an ending we all already know, so effective is how tautly it depicts the events that led up to bin Laden’s death in such an intellectually and morally challenging way. There is no flash, no melodrama, no varnished surfaces or sanded edges to make the material more bearable or ‘entertaining’, it simply tells it as it is. This is done with meticulous detail by Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal. They tell this story through the eyes of a female CIA operative, played by Jessica Chastain, whose obsession with finding bin Laden was the driving force that led to his death. This performance by Chastain, who carries the film, is quite astonishing. She displays such a wonderful level of assurance, confidence and determination but also the weight of her obsession – doing most of this with her eyes. We know nothing about her character other than the work she did to find bin Laden but we still root for her the whole way. It is one of those subtle but powerful performances that will be remembered for much longer than any other performance this year.

Now, at this point in time, it would be impossible to write a review without addressing some of the criticisms the film has drawn. Honestly, I have to say that I find it quite disheartening that morally insecure and intellectually lazy people have tried to bring the film down for not making moral decisions for them. I am disgusted by the claims that the film is pro-torture for not taking a side as to whether such techniques as water boarding are right or wrong. The simple fact is it doesn’t have to. It isn’t the films responsibilities to do such things. All it wishes to do is relay the facts, as it knows them. It is then up to the audience, based on what they see, to make these decisions.

It is true that in doing so it reveals some truths, many we might not like, that makes us reexamine the past decade of American history. But this is what makes the film more than just a masterfully crafted thriller. There is no arguing this country has had some very dark moments over the past decade  – Abu Ghraib – and the search for revenge to capture or kill those responsible for 9/11 was the driving force of most of this. In making “Zero Dark Thirty” Bigelow and Boal aren’t trying to say whether any of this was right or wrong, but rather they looked to remind us that it did happen and challenges us to question how it truly effected us all and make the decisions ourselves as to the moral nature and effectiveness of torture and war; while at the same time allowing us to appreciate and honor the hard work and sacrifice of those who gave so much in trying to protect this country.

This is made quite clear at the end of the film with its final shot, which I think is perhaps one of the most important in any film in recent years. After the films harrowing opening and what comes after – the remembrance of the horrors of 9/11, the journey down the dark paths revenge took us, including torture and the horrors of war – we are disgusted by what happened, but like the films main character we knew it was happening yet we kept moving forward because we had our ‘eyes on the prize’. In the end, after all was said and done, it is hard to truly rejoice when the full weight of what had happened is realized. Chastain’s face in the films final moment sums this up perfectly. A sort of “what now…was it worth it…what parts of ourselves were lost to accomplish or fight this war on terror?” We killed the man who essentially started this war, a sliver of justice was delivered to those who have lost family and friends, but that war didn’t end with his death, and it will always haunt us no matter how many body bags we fill. The implications of this scene, and the whole film, are bigger than any scene or any film in recent memory.

Thinking back, it is quite amazing how well the whole emotional trajectory of the film so well mirrors the emotional trajectory of this country in the last ten years. From its black screen opening to the close up of Chastain before the credits, “Zero Dark Thirty” intimately reflects on the sadness and shock, that led to anger and war, that was followed by frustration, that led to apathy, which ultimately ended with rejoice…only to quickly then be overshadowed by the full weight of post-9/11 America and where the past decade has left us. It is because of this that I think “Zero Dark Thirty” is not only the best but also the most important film of 2012, or even in recent years. It is a masterfully and tautly crafted thriller that challenges the viewer in ways that will leave us talking about it for years to come. Its moral ambiguity and apolitical stance reveal truths usually overshadowed by preachy, overtly political films of the same nature. If that isn’t the formula for a modern masterpiece, then I don’t know what is.

*Read Arleigh’s comment below for his perfect expansion on the feelings towards the criticisms the film has drawn*