The Messenger (2009) on Netflix
Injured in Iraq, Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery is assigned to the Army's casualty notification service. Captain Tony Stone teaches him the protocol for telling families a soldier has died.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.1/1038,807 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes90%
Trailer
Plot summary
Will Montgomery, an Army staff sergeant, is home from Iraq, recovering from wounds that include damage to his left eye. With a few months left in his enlistment, he is assigned to the casualty notification team, whose officers tell families that a soldier has been killed. His partner, Captain Tony Stone, a career soldier and recovering alcoholic, lays out the protocol: speak only to the next of kin, and make no physical contact with the grieving. He also warns that the work carries dangers of its own. Will has resumed a relationship with Kelly, his childhood sweetheart, who is now engaged to another man. Delivering news to Olivia Pitterson, whose husband died in Iraq, leaves him wanting to know her better.
Cast
- Lindsay Michelle Naderas Claire
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Messenger (2009)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Oren Moverman began the script with Alessandro Camon in 2006 wanting to write about the "unseen aspects of war", at a time when President George W. Bush had upheld a ban on photos of soldiers' coffins in the media.
- The kitchen scene between Will and Olivia was shot in a single take: Oren Moverman put the camera outside the kitchen, did not tell the performers they were shooting, and told them only to go in and avoid kissing.
- To research military life, the filmmakers worked with the United States Army and the Walter Reed Medical Center and were advised by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Sinor, who had himself worked as a casualty notification officer.
