Eye in the Sky, a British movie released in 2015, has a plotline so realistic and plausible that many critics and movie-goers believed it to have been based on a true story. The film explores the morality of drone warfare, and the movie's producer, Gavin Hood, credits writer Guy Hibbert with creating a story that opened the door to discussion about the nature of drones and the ethics surrounding their usage by the government.
The film was shot in South Africa and starred Dame Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman; it would turn out to be Rickman's last movie role as he passed away in January 2016, before the movie's international release.
The film tells the story of a joint operation between American and British intelligence agencies to capture or kill the leadership of the Kenyan terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, who are responsible for the assassination of an undercover British agent. Most of their intelligence is garnered from overhead surveillance and the utilization of drones and it is as a result of this drone technology that a suicide bombing plot is both discovered and prevented. Despite the success of the mission from an anti-terrorism standpoint, there is controversy even amongst the intelligence community because the missions do not feel like war anymore; the British under-secretary believes that it is killing from the safety of an armchair.
The film was well received at the box office and grossed $32.8 million worldwide. Critics were overwhelmingly positive about both the tightly-written storyline, unusually high demands on the audience to think, and the quality of the acting. Alan Rickman, in particular, was singled out for praise with a performance that many considered Oscar-worthy.
