Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

In the opening sequence of this film a photographer is taking shots of a woman lying dead in a deep grave somewhere in the Middle East. Her friends and relations are gathered round and uttering cries of mourning. Then the corpse opens her eyes. From that moment on the audience commences a massive learning curve. The photographer has already gone past the point of recoil at anything seen. We on the other hand are the "newbies" in these circumstances and are shocked and horrified. The twist of this film and one of the key reasons why it works so well is the gender reversal. The terrorists are all women. The photographer is a woman. This precludes the issues being judged on gender stereotypes and focuses our minds on the deeper issues such as what happens to those we leave behind when we go into danger? What is the worth of war photography? Is it a form of pornography or does it bare witness to an uncaring world? In the particulars this film examines the issues rather dispassionately. It's a case study in what happens to marriages, children, relationships, and most significantly it questions whether witnessing events can help modify the future for the better (which one assumes is the underlying justification for Rebecca's calling). It also questions whether the calling of war photographer/ correspondent is akin to addiction. The adrenaline rush is presented as compelling. The location work is exceptional, as you'd expect from an ex-war photographer (Erik Poppe, the director and co-writer). The cinematography and mise-en-scene are also ravishing. The music is subtle, appropriate and non-intrusive. The actors are outstanding – Juliet Binoche's performance is all watchful eyes and tightly closed mouth (her professional persona) contrasting with moments when she's a joyous mother. The performance of Lauren Canny as the teenage daughter Steph is particularly noteworthy. Nicholaj Coaster-Waldau gives an unselfish and fully inhabited performance as the husband, secure in his professional life and as a father, who can't take the wear and tear on the marriage and the family any more. His reasons become clear when the sequence in Kenya reveals Rebecca to be a woman who records the anguish of strangers but is deaf to her own child's. The film is non-judgemental about the people who wrap themselves in explosives and then blow themselves and others up; nor does it choose to condemn their families and supporters. There appear to be no villains, only victims. Perhaps this reflects Rebecca's viewpoint. This may upset some established conceptions about terrorism but this director is working from experience. It is no accident that Rebecca and Marcus and their family live in Ireland, a place with a violent reputation (but a peaceful presence in the film). And no accident that Rebecca works in Kabul and Kenya – more signifiers of trouble. But this story is timeless. Rebecca will find trouble wherever she goes because trouble exists in the world and she has the disposition to put it on record. In other words, it's not her, it's us. There is a terrible sequence where Rebecca tries to kidnap her children in a fit of insane rage (again a gender twist), only stopping when she realises what she is doing to her children. This is a nervous breakdown which causes her to evaluate her life and who she is. Who she is of course is a person who has to go out and confront evil via a camera no matter what the personal cost. The film is honest – there is no way this marriage can survive these circumstances. But there is one point that should have been worked out in another way. This husband would never, in a million years, let his wife take his daughter to a Kenyan refugee camp, no matter how "safe" it purported to be. He knows her too well. He is not a fool. This plot point really demands a better rationalisation than the script provides. However the rest is solid. It's a strong film, a thoughtful film and, despite everything, has moments of great joy and beauty. I was reminded through this film of so many witnesses to truth - both women and men - like Orla Guerin, Veronica Guerin, Kate Adie, Robert Capa, Don McCullin (still alive after a dangerous life from Vietnam to the Congo and now shooting grim B&W landscapes and portraits) but especially the one and only Neil Davis who most famously filmed the North Vietnamese troops and tanks break through the gates to the Presidential Palace in Saigon in 1976. He returned to a desk job at Visnews, couldn't bear the boredom and subsequently died in 1985 while filming during a five minute coup at Bangkok airport. His life sums up the addiction, the highs and the lows of a war photographer. Steph, the older daughter, who has carried some pivotal moments in the film, provides us with both the moral criticism and eventual justification for Rebecca's work. Her journey is our journey. But there's no happy resolution, personally or professionally. The film ends with a sequence not unlike the opening one but with a further twist – this time the photographer loses her dispassionate equilibrium and she and the audience experience a shared horror in the face of the processes of terrorism. She stands appalled and broken. Witnessing does not always lessen terror. Things may just get worse.

This is a truly European production with a genuinely global agenda. A Norway-Sweden- Ireland co-production, it was shot in Ireland, Afghanistan, Kenya and Morocco and both the director Erik Poppe and writer Harald Rosenløw Eeg are Norwegian (the story is inspired by Poppe's personal experiences as a war photographer). War photographer Rebecca (the French Juliette Binoche) is married to marine biologist Marcus (the Danish Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) and they live in Ireland with their two daughters, but Rebecca is constantly drawn to conflict zones where she take incredible risks to obtain dramatic photographs. The film explores what such a situation does to the family left at home and what drives someone to risk all that is dear to them. The largely wordless opening sequence presages a slow work, but a compelling one, and as always Binoche gives a mesmerising performance.

During the first ten minutes we learn that Rebecca (Juliette Binoche) is a photographer investigating terrorism, putting her own life in danger. Until an explosion takes her back to home. Twenty five minutes later she decides to quit her job. Twenty five minutes later she decides to take her daughter to a refugee camp in Kenya.Until this very point, nothing really happens in the story. It looks like Erik Poppe thought the subject (the terrorism) was enough to carry on the audience. I don't think that worked.The actual story starts after a whole hour of film. Here Rebecca takes a series of decisions making changes in her life and her family. And it's kind of interesting, but you are already too bored by that time.I think the film presents Rebecca's difficulties for staying at home, as the main conflict. But it seems to be too weak for making the story flow.

Juliette Binoche is one of the finest actresses of the past few decades. None of her beauty and vividness have faded with the advancing years. She brings to this role, as with all of her other roles a lot of heartfelt emotion. She plays a war photographer who is at war with herself about her family responsibilities versus her commitment to her dangerous occupation. Nicolas Costas Waldau is brilliant as her husband. A much more appealing character than his Game of Thrones one. The young actresses who play her daughters are also wonderful. One thing I will say is that it's frustrating to watch her put herself in immediate danger. Especially seeing as she has such an idyllic home life with such a beautiful husband, children and a nice cottage in rural Ireland. I won't spoil it for you. It is a wonderful movie, if a little frustrating.