Ballistic Review: Lena Headey leads a powerful drama about grief and the price of war

Plot: A mother who works in a munitions factory discovers her son was killed in combat from a bullet made in her own factory.

Review: When I first heard about Ballistic and saw the trailer, it looked like another run-of-the-mill action thriller in the vein of Taken or the recent Milla Jovovich movie, Protector. Lena Headey has experience working across all sorts of genres, and playing a badass out for vengeance surely falls right in her wheelhouse. But, with a glut of mediocre action flicks on every streaming platform known to man, I was not sure if Ballistic was going to amount to much. Imagine my surprise when I watched Chad Faust’s film and found that not only was it nothing like Taken, but it isn’t even the same genre. Ballistic is nothing like what you would expect it to be, and rather than be a shoot-em-up bloodbath, it is instead an intense and emotionally devastating drama about those left behind when a soldier dies in action, mixed with a very powerful look at the gray area of who funds whom with weapons in the wars waged around the world.

Lena Headey plays Nance Redfield, a single mother of a deployed soldier, Jesse (Jordan Kronis). Jesse is in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. Nance is proud of her son and has taken to serving almost as a surrogate parent to Jesse’s pregnant wife, Diana (Stranger Things’ Amybeth McNulty), who is due to give birth imminently. Checking in via Zoom whenever they can, Nance goes to work at a local munitions factory, where she makes the same bullets Jesse and his platoon fire. Each day goes by with Nance and Diana counting down Jesse’s return when Nance arrives home to find out that her son was killed in combat with the Taliban. Devastated by his death, Nance asks to know what kind of bullet killed her son. When she learns it is the same caliber as what she helps manufacture, she becomes obsessed with finding out how American-made ammunition got into the guns of the enemy. Channeling her grief into a single-minded quest for answers and justice, Nance begins to unravel.

While thoughts and prayers are the bulk of what Nance is offered, Ballistic paints a blunt portrait of a mother’s grief, even if some of her decisions are more cinematic than realistic. But rather than go on a violent rampage as an action movie would, Ballistic is anchored by Lena Headey’s acting, which vacillates between sadness and a not-so-quiet rage. Nance befriends a former Afghan interpreter turned grief counselor named Kahlil (Hamza Haq), who deals with his own grief that parallels hers. But, being from the country where Nance’s son died, she is challenged by conflicting emotions. She lashes out at the military and her boss, Rick (Enrico Colantoni), for knowingly supplying weapons to the Taliban. As she prepares to take more extreme measures, Ballistic peppers in the use of extremist media like podcasts and YouTube videos that proclaim to know “the truth” as we witness Nance’s potential decline from rationality to something far worse.

Running a quick ninety minutes, Ballistic features Lena Headey in every scene. The actress has built an impressive career with roles in Dredd, 300, and The Purge, including her most iconic turns as the heroic Sarah Connor in the underrated series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and as the villainous Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones. Having done genre work, voice acting, and period pieces, it is impressive to see Headey take on a role like this. With a flawless American accent, Headey embodies the weight of a mother losing their child and showcases some moments of quiet intensity that are hard to watch in their honesty. There are some scenes in Ballistic where Headey does not utter a word, and her guttural response is enough to convey everything you need to know about how Nance is feeling. But while Headey’s performance is solid, the character’s decisions can still be frustrating to watch unfold as the film careens towards what seems like an inevitable conclusion.

In only his second film behind the camera, actor-turned-writer/director Chad Faust came across an article in a magazine while waiting for a doctor’s appointment. Chronicling the sale of arms to both friendly and enemy militaries, Faust has crafted a story that has a lot to say about the political ramifications of the military-industrial complex. Balancing perspectives on the sensitive political landscape we live in today, Faust avoids aligning with either side of the spectrum. Instead, Ballistic looks at the impact of death due to war on both sides while also hinting at how easily someone can be swayed by misinformation when they are in a tenuous state of mental imbalance. This is all pretty hefty subject matter for any movie, but Faust accomplishes it by not getting ahead of himself and keeping the focus on a single character in a singular situation. With experienced consultants on set, we see support groups and people willing to help others in need while still delivering a movie-going experience.

Ballistic is going to disappoint some people who are expecting a true action movie, but I hope they stick with it. Ballistic tells a timely story that offers a very different perspective on warfare than we see in movies that deal with similar psychological drama. While there are some moments that could be categorized as action and others as thriller, Ballistic should be regarded as a drama without any caveats. Lena Headey is impressive as she holds this movie together, even as we watch her character coming apart. Whether you have loved ones who have served or know someone who has, Ballistic offers insight into how hard it can be to lose someone in a way you feel responsible for. I hope people give this movie a watch and that it may start momentum for the tragic true story that inspired it.

Ballistic opens in select theaters and on demand on April 17th.