10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars

Everything that happens has happened for a first time. Terrorism as we know it has been with us since the late 18th century, but on September 5th, 1972, something happened for the first time. As the Palestinian militant group Black September stormed the Munich Olympic Village, killed two members of the Israeli team and took nine more hostage, it was captured live on television. This was the first time a terrorist action was captured live, and the choices that the journalists doing that work made helped shape the conversation around broadcast and journalistic ethics in ways we still feel today.

September 5 captures this event from the perspective of these journalists, bringing us inside the broadcast centre as things unfold, giving us context for how choices were made and technology was physically macgyvered to make the coverage possible. At the centre of it all is Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) and Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), the head of the control room and president of ABC Sports, respectively. As the situation evolves, they take steps to ensure that they are the ones telling it, becoming the de facto source of information for the world while ensuring that the coverage is captivating and sensational.

The resulting film is, in a word, gripping. People sitting around in a room telling people outside that room where the cameras should point doesn't seem like it would be, but director Tim Fehlbaum uses the tight space and ticking clock to great effect. The choice to use actual archive footage makes it all feel authentic. The film highlights the choices the team has to make as they make them, and it is very human and relatable, not just in the things they get right but in the things they get wrong.

The cast is dedicated and effective, but the star is Magaro. In recent years, he's made a name for himself in productions big and small like First Cow, Overlord, Past Lives, and The Agency (not to mention the praise for his role in this year’s Sundance gem Omaha), and his turn here cements his presence as a leading man for an ensemble drama. You're right there with him as he directs the team and the coverage, and when he makes mistakes, you can't help but feel for him – even when they result from cynical choices. It's a masterful performance that would be getting consideration from awards bodies in any other year.

This isn't any other year, though, and that is where the biggest criticisms of the film come from. Palestine and Israel have never normalised their relations, and after a year of conflict, September 5 feels ill-timed. The central conceit of the film is that it presents the events in the newsroom as they transpired, which means that while it does have a lot to say about the ethics of journalism, it does not have a lot to say about a conflict that has vastly escalated in the last 14 months, and that will likely feel like a missed opportunity.

Still, good journalism doesn't take a side – this is best exemplified by Peter Jennings' (played by Benjamin Walker) real-life refusal to call the Palestinians terrorists – and that is the angle the film is taking, and the story it is telling is of the newsroom rather than the events themselves. It's a fine line to walk, especially in 2024, but Fehlbaum does an admirable job walking it.

It's easy to imagine September 5 making a bigger splash in a different year, either due to world events or shifting tastes, but it is precisely the kind of prestige ensemble drama that the movie-going public sometimes laments as being a rarity. It has a strong central performance in a cast of great actors, a gripping, thrilling, important story from our past that we can all learn from.

Movie Review: Gripping Thriller "September 5" Lead By Strong Performance from John Magaro