The east is one of those movies the just fall from the tree, and when they fall you realize it is probably on of the best movies of the year. The fact some eco-terroristts decide to fight against large evil corporations(pharma,oil,coal etc.) makes the story even more interesting. Brit Marlin does a brilliant acting, being an undercover agent, but a human one, not one of those Hollywood super-heroes-I-save-the-world-again. The rest of the actors have a brilliant acting. If you want a "human" movie where intelligence and reality clash from start to finish, this is your movie, but remember to watch it slowly, so you can get the most of it.

THE EAST is an openly political film - in which a group of lefty liberals go after the evils of big business and corporations - but one which manages to make a few decent points along the way, namely the morals behind the use of evil to combat evil. It's not a very satisfying film, and it remains resolutely po-faced throughout, but it's worth a watch for anybody with a real-world interest in this stuff.

Newcomer Brit Marling plays an undercover agent who joins a group of eco-terrorists in order to bring them down, but who finds herself being drawn into their schemes and lives. I found the actress to be entirely unsympathetic in the part, but others in support are better; a cast-against-type Alexander Skarsgard, for instance, alongside Toby Kebbell and Shiloh Fernandez. A shame we have the continually irritating Ellen Page along for the ride too, but there you go.

Occasionally THE EAST becomes a pretty effective and tense thriller, and these moments occur when the eco-warriors actually get up and pull off some pretty impressive stunts. However, to counter such highs there's a whole lot of low-level emoting and sitting around chatting, and unfortunately the idealistic young characters just aren't very interesting to watch as a whole.

The team of Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling has brought us another throughly original idea. Sarah (Brit Marling) is an undercover investigator for a corporate intelligence agency. She's tasked to infiltrate a problematic environmental terrorist group called The East.

This is a story that I haven't seen before. It's smart and provocative. Brit Marling is fast becoming one of the most compelling actors around. She's more than a pretty face. Her presence can hold the attention even with most big time actors.

The pacing is brisk for most of the movie. It does need to ramp up the tension more as it approached the climax. They need to write a more exciting climax. It's not like this is talkfest.