The East

Former FBI agent Sarah (Brit Marling) is now a hotshot operative for Hiller/Brood, a secretive security firm specializing in pharmaceutical and corporate espionage. When her no-nonsense boss (Patricia Clarkson) dispatches her to infiltrate a radical environmental group that calls itself The East, she tells her boyfriend (Jason Ritter) that she is traveling to Dubai. But instead of boarding an international flight, Sarah adroitly exits the D.C. airport, dyes her hair, changes into grubby clothes, dons a backpack, and hops a freight train, going off the grid to find this anarchist collective. One of her traveling companions turns out to be part of the creepy, cult-like cell, and despite initial mistrust, Sarah is taken to their headquarters, a burnt-out house in the woods, where she gets on well with the group's scruffy, strangely taciturn leader (Alexander Skarsgård), and his cohorts (Toby Kebbell, Ellen Page). Before long, Sarah is embedded in their vengeful, punitive retaliations against smarmy corporate executives. Written by Marling and director Zal Batmanglij, this shrewdly suspenseful thriller aims to raise social consciousness while oozing a pervasive sense of conspiracy and danger, as Sarah begins to feel a growing empathy for the group's anti-establishment missions—creating an internal moral dilemma. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an “Examining the Moral Gray” conversation with director Zal Batmanglij and costar Brit Marling (5 min.), a “Two Brothers: Collaboration” segment featuring Zal and brother Rostam Batmanglij (3 min.), the production featurette “Cause and Effect: The Movement” (3 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted scenes (5 min.), the production featurettes “Exposed: The Story” (3 min.), “Off the Grid” (3 min.), and “Casting” (3 min.), and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a thought-provoking drama.] (S. Granger)