LingoMovies

Outside the Wire isn't your typical sci-fi action film.

00:00

Sure, it features a number of breathtaking fight scenes.

00:04

And yeah, you'll get to watch Anthony Mackie run around as a robot, kicking all sorts of

00:06

butt.

00:10

But Outside the Wire also has something to say about warfare, technology, and the intersection

00:11

between the two, and it's made with an attention to detail that makes the film's stark and

00:15

gritty near-future world feel all the more convincing.

00:19

In fact, much of Outside the Wire's best worldbuilding is subtle enough that you may not see it unless

00:22

you know where to look.

00:28

Here are all the small details you might've missed in Outside the Wire.

00:30

For most of Outside the Wire, Viktor Koval remains off screen, but his presence is everywhere.

00:34

Not only does his plot to retrieve old Soviet nuclear codes drive all of the movie's action,

00:41

but his forces pop up time after time to cause trouble.

00:45

However, while Harp and Leo often find themselves surprised by Koval's attacks, viewers often

00:48

get a little warning - if they're watching carefully, that is.

00:53

Koval's unique symbol, which looks a little bit like a "v" with a tick through it, is

00:58

everywhere.

01:02

It appears on a wall during the firefight that opens the film.

01:03

It also appears numerous times in Leo's collection of photographs documenting Koval's activities.

01:06

Once Harp and Leo get out in the field, the symbol takes on a prophetic quality.

01:11

One of the symbols is graffitied on the side of a building that Leo and Harp pass just

01:16

before their motorcade gets stopped.

01:20

There's another scrawled on the wall inside the shelter they visit while dropping off

01:22

the vaccine, foreshadowing the sniper attack inside.

01:25

As the duo drive to the bank where the nuclear codes are held, they pass a barricade sporting

01:34

the symbol.

01:38

Basically, any time that an attack by Koval's forces is imminent, the symbol appears.

01:39

It's never good news.

01:44

Thomas Harp isn't just a soldier.

01:51

Outside of the military, he has a full and complete life that includes an adoring fiancee

01:52

and a wedding to plan.

01:58

His fiancee even has a cute pet name for Harp: "Gummy Bear."

01:59

"She calls you Gummy Bear?

02:02

Awww, my Gummy Bear!"

02:05

Outside the Wire never explains where Harp got this name, but the opening sequence offers

02:13

one big clue.

02:17

When we first meet Harp, he's sitting at his control station, guiding a military drone

02:18

from thousands of miles away.

02:23

There's a picture of Olivia taped to his screen, and he's casually snacking from a bag of - that's

02:25

right - gummy bears.

02:29

"Gummy Bear" isn't a bad label for Harp, either.

02:31

Unlike Leo, whose body is cold, steely, and lifeless and whose morals are similarly rigid,

02:34

Harp is soft, human.

02:39

Sure, "Gummy Bear" is a funny nickname, but it also sets Harp apart from Leo.

02:40

"I'm not a man, lieutenant.

02:46

I was created to simulate one to the exact necessity to do my damn job."

02:48

With the US army, Koval's Russian-backed terrorists, and the growing rebellion, life in Krazny

02:54

can be hard, and nobody knows that better than the country's children.

02:59

Many of them have lost everything thanks to the people fighting - people like Harp.

03:03

"Your bombs destroyed their homes."

03:09

That's not something that Outside the Wire dwells on, but you can see just how traumatic

03:12

these kids' lives are by looking at the drawings hanging up in Sofia's office.

03:16

Scattered among the crayon portraits of trains, fish, and princesses are a number of much

03:20

more horrific images of war.

03:24

The hand-drawn horrors are terrifying in their casualness, and their juxtaposition with other,

03:26

more normal images really drives home that the events depicted in Outside the Wire aren't

03:31

unusual for these kids.

03:35

They're simply part of everyday life, which makes them all the more chilling.

03:37

Outside the Wire does an excellent job building up Captain Leo before we meet him, making

03:42

his entrance into the movie a big event.

03:46

"Harp.

03:49

He's not like us."

03:52

Just before Leo's face is revealed, the camera pans over three books he's been reading: Henry

03:53

V, Black Reconstruction in America, and A People's History of the United States.

03:58

They barely appear on-screen, but once you know where Leo's story is headed, those three

04:03

books are very revealing.

04:08

Henry V is a portrait of a leader who glorifies war and an examination of his relationship

04:10

with the people fighting on the front lines.

04:15

Black Reconstruction in America fundamentally re-contextualized the role of African Americans

04:18

during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

04:22

A People's History of the United States argues that America uses war to empower the upper

04:25

class while exploiting the people underneath them.

04:29

Taken all together, you can see how these three books sum up Leo's philosophy, and go

04:33

a long way towards explaining his motives.

04:37

They're also a nice bit of foreshadowing - assuming, of course, you're quick enough to catch all

04:39

three titles as they whiz by.

04:43

Thanks for watching.

04:46

Click the links in our video to watch more from Netflix Film Club.

04:48

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest exclusive videos.

04:51