Reed Van Dyk's first feature explores the aftermath of an Iraq War tragedy.
Plus IconOwen Gleiberman
Chief Film Critic
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Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival Early on in “Atonement,” there’s a battle so mired in the helter-skelter chaos of combat violence that it puts us right in the fog of war. Near the start of the conflict in Iraq in 2003, we’ve spent a few scenes getting to know the Khachaturians, a boisterous Iraqi family that’s jammed three generations of itself into a single home in Baghdad, all to stay out of harm’s way. But then a bomb blast intrudes, and the family members jump into cars and head across town, to where they think it will be safe. There’s no reason to think otherwise; there are lots of Iraqis out on the street, going about their business.
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