The ethics of drone warfare are fully explored and debated in Andrew Niccol‘s GOOD KILL, a somber and unusual war movie unlike any we’ve seen. In the film, Ethan Hawke plays Air Force pilot Tom Egan who after years of being on the front lines now sits back in a trailer in Las Vegas, controlling drones hundreds of miles away from the action, killing suspected terrorists with intense precision. He’s fighting the good fight, yes, but as he’s in no danger himself; he feels detached from his activities, and from the war itself. Is he really still a soldier?
This is Hawke’s third collaboration with Niccol, after GATTACA and LORD OF WAR, and what a fascinating collaboration it has been each and every time. I spoke to Hawke about his conflicted character, working with Niccol again, and whether or not he’s able to shake off his character’s intense emotions at the end of the day.
In the next interview, I speak to Niccol about the appeal of making a movie about drone pilots, whether or not he wanted to do something a little more “grounded in reality” (this is the director of GATTACA, THE HOST and IN TIME, after all), making a political statement and what he’s learned about Hollywood in the 20 years since GATTACA.