Marie Colvin is an American journalist for The Sunday Times, visiting the most dangerous countries and documenting their civil wars.
In 2001, while trekking with the Tamil Tigers, Colvin and her crew are ambushed by the Sri Lanka Army. Despite her attempt to surrender, an RPG fires in her direction, wounding her to the point that she loses her left eye. Afterward, Colvin decides to wear an eyepatch.
Diagnosed with PTSD, Colvin is still determined to look for new stories, and argues with her boss, Sean Ryan, about conflicts she wants to cover, including Iraq, where she meets war photographerPaul Conroy, and Libya. She lives in London when not traveling the world, and begins a relationship with Tony Shaw (Stanley Tucci).
In February 2012, Conroy and Colvin decide to cover the conflict in the city of Homs, where they find 28,000 Syrian men, women, and children caught in the crossfire. After Conroy and Colvin send their story to Ryan, Colvin decides to broadcast to CNN to bring awareness to civilian casualties. As Marie, Paul, and another reporter, Rémi Ochlik, flee the building they had used as a media centre, the street is peppered with explosions. Paul, injured and shellshocked, wakes to find Colvin and Ochlik killed from the explosions and subsequent pile-up of rubble.
The film ends with imagery of the devastated city of Homs, followed by an interview of the real Marie Colvin, with the quote: "You're never going to get to where you're going if you acknowledge fear."[9]
On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 88%, based on 145 reviews, and the average score is 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "A Private War honors its real-life subject with a sober appraisal of the sacrifices required of journalists on the front lines—and career-best work by Rosamund Pike."[22] On review aggregator Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 32 critics.[23]
Peter Debruge of Variety called it "an incredibly sophisticated, psychologically immersive" film.[24]
^Debruge, Peter (September 30, 2018). "Film Review: 'A Private War'". Variety. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.