In one of many powerful moments in “This is Not a War Story,” Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Will (Sam Adegoke) dismisses much-heralded “realistic” movies like “American Sniper,” “The Hurt Locker” and “Saving Private Ryan” as glorifying the war experience.
The aptly titled “This is Not a War Story” takes place far from distant battlefields. Instead it conveys the wrenching alienation and trauma that mark the day to day existence for many returning combat veterans. Director/writer Talia Lugacy, who also stars, wrote the script with input from Iraq and Vietnam war vets, many of whom play themselves. Scenes of the veterans talking about their experiences as they hang out in a New York City industrial space that serves as their art studio and clubhouse have a gritty, documentary look and feel. The conversations, sometimes angry, sometimes playful, are as authentic as the personal artwork — poetry, posters, sculptures — that the vets create out of military fatigues.
The film opens with the suicide of a young vet, Timothy, on the New York City subway and the ripple effect that it has on his community of veterans struggling with PTSD. Adegoke’s Will was Timothy’s peer counselor and the tragedy leaves him awash in anger and guilt. Will copes by quietly working at the funky studio alongside real-life veterans who shred uniforms and grind the fabric into paper that’s used in their creative projects.
Into this space comes Lugacy’s Isabelle, a taciturn Marine who’s recently returned home to an unwelcoming mother (Frances Fisher, terrific in one memorable scene) and to panic attacks that keep her awake at night. She’s given the room and the tools at the art studio to channel her demons and soon she strikes up a promising if guarded friendship with Will. It’s refreshing to see a woman character featured prominently as a veteran with the same PTSD from serving in Iraq — but Isabelle also must look over her shoulder as she walks home at night, adding to her anxiety and struggle with adjustment.
“This is Not a War Story” is a powerfully scripted and acted film and a searing indictment of how badly the system fails its veterans, with suicide the all-too-frequent result. But it delivers that message within a moving story about the psychic and emotional damage that veterans are forced to carry, with connection and community often the only hope of salvation.