Director Gabriel Range, who also co-wrote the film, brings out the dilemma of the investigators as nicely. Painted as villains for their massive crackdown post-9/11, they tread gingerly but inevitably down the same path here — a suspect with a Muslim name, Syrian descent and a Pakistan stamp on his passport is caught, convicted and sentenced within seven months.

As an investigator says, the pressure to produce results is too high and the credentials of such a suspect too juicy to pass over.

However, the end is a cop-out. It seems like, at the last minute, Range decided to dress up the film with an anti-war message. The twist is unconvincing, and the only timid note in a brave and honest effort.