Waiting for the Barbarians (2020)

The colonial magistrate in a remote desert outpost is enjoying quiet days of harmony with the natives. The small group of soldiers that are there to guard the outpost are often napping as there is no threat posed by the population. But then a colonel arrives with orders to uncover details about an impending "barbarian" uprising and his interrogation techniques eventually reap "information."

Mark Rylance as the magistrate delivers a nuanced performance, but he's the whole show here. I'd have preferred to have some insight from the perspective of the soldiers whose change in behavior felt out of nowhere to me. They went from an easy relationship the locals and their magistrate to monstrously treating them all like actual barbarians. I wanted to see it happen -- feel what they felt as their allegiances shifted. Was it just as simple as "following orders"? Well then, how would that account for the jeering and casual cruelties? Show me or lose me.

The parallels between this story and the current political tactic of name-calling and straight-up fabrication to gain influence ("they're eating the dogs! they're eating the cats!") was not lost on me -- basically, I know this can happen because I've seen it in 2020s America, but this film provided no insight as to the why. Just like the magistrate, I'm confused about what is gained by creating enemies where none existed.

C