The true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a suspected 9/11 planner who was held and tortured at Guantanamo Bay for years without charges or a trial.

BIOPIC/DRAMA

The Mauritanian (2021)

Directed by Kevin Macdonald

Written by Michael Bronner, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani

Starring Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Levi, Corey Johnson

Based on the book Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

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Connor Eyzaguirre

January 14, 2022

8/10

The events of September 11, 2001 have been used to justify a lot of heinous shit over the years, including the goings-on at Guantanamo Bay. Nearly every inmate of Cuba's infamous American military prison is being held without a trial or without any charges ever brought upon them. They are simply persons of interest in hundreds of ongoing investigations related to international terrorism. I'm all for condemning terrorists, but forcing confessions out of coercion and brutal torture is evil as fuck and we shouldn't be doing it to anybody. Sometimes the inmates do get a trial, but it's rare. One such rarity is Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian, ex-Al Qaeda member who was called the head recruiter for 9/11, but there was zero evidence to substantiate this claim. Still, the American government held him, tortured him, forced a confession, and sought the death penalty. 

This film tells Slahi's story, as well as the lawyers who discovered him and took on his case. This was in the early 2000's, less then five years after 9/11. The wound was still fresh, and the public wanted blood. The performances are all fantastic, notably Jodie Foster and Tahar Rahim, and while there are some lulls during the two-hour runtime, the story is powerful enough to keep you invested in the long run. The scenes of Slahi's torture, including waterboarding, sleep deprivation, assault, and even rape, are harrowing and tough to watch.

The Mauritanian came out towards the beginning of 2021, and didn't really make any steam. It was up for a few Globes, but was shut out of the Oscars, which makes sense I suppose. A lot of people, Americans especially, may see this film as unpatriotic or even traitorous. But I'd argue that torturing innocent people based on hearsay and denying them their constitutional rights is far more unpatriotic than a film that condemns those very actions.