Norman — There are few places more desolate and unforgiving than Afghanistan. There is little in the way of the soft western world here; to live in Afghanistan, you have to be tough. “I feel like every time we come to this country it tries to spit us back out,” Major Ben Keynes says at the beginning of “The Objective” (2008). Too bad he doesn’t take the hint
A veteran CIA man, Keynes (newcomer Jonas Ball) worked in Afghanistan 10 years earlier. When he left, he vowed never to return. That was before the 9/11 attacks two months ago, though. For Keynes, nothing comes before country. If he has to serve in Afghanistan to protect the U.S., then he’ll do it without complaint. The stakes are pretty high, after all. Nuclear, in fact.
Shortly after the September attacks, a satellite spotted a radioactive heat source deep in the Afghan mountains. Fearing it’s a weapon, the company sends Keynes in to find out what’s going on. He can’t go alone; the Taliban are all over the place. So Keynes is assigned Special Forces #392, a veteran six-man unit headed by CO Wally Hamer (Matthew R. Anderson) as support.
Keynes tells the men that their orders are to find Mohammed Aban, a powerful cleric whose signed endorsement of the U.S. involvement in the war would encourage civilians to support the U.S. invasion. It’s a lame cover story and the guys in #392 don’t buy it, but they’re not allowed to question orders, only follow them.
Actually, Keynes did tell a little of the truth. They are after Mohammed Aban, but it’s not to sign anything. Aban is the CIA’s contact in the region. In his last report, he sounded like a lunatic, confirming that there’s something big, nasty and very strange in the mountains. And then, nothing. Aban vanished, and with him any more information about the mysterious object.
Keynes has a lead on Aban’s whereabouts, but by the time they get there the loony cleric has high-tailed it for the Sacred Mountains, a brutal range where no sane Afghani would consider going. Keynes and the men have no choice but to follow Aban, though.
The journey is cursed from the start. Radios and compasses don’t work. There are noises in the night, strange lights that appear and then abruptly go away. Visions. Hallucinations. The Americans scoff at even the idea of a curse, but their local guide Abdul (Chems-Eddine Sidoune) assures them that curses are real in the Sacred Mountains. This is a bad place. They shouldn’t be here.
The dangers mean nothing to Keynes. He has only one objective, and it isn’t to save his skin. The objective lies somewhere out there in the mountains and Keynes must find it no matter what the cost.
When you don’t have to worry about overpaid actors and elaborate sets, you can make a $4 million budget go a long way. Director Daniel Myrick (one of the creative forces behind “The Blair Witch Project”) has created a terrific little war/horror/sci-fi movie with outstanding performances from a cast of complete unknowns. Jonas Ball makes a perfect CIA creep, and the members of #392 are some of the most believable soldiers I’ve ever seen onscreen. The spooky musical score (from Kays Al-Atrakchi) helps to keep the tension high and while the plot seems a bit like “Alien,” “The Objective” definitely puts a fresh spin on it.
You can find “The Objective” (unrated but still disturbing) at Hastings in New Releases. Check it out!
