The film unfolds within that time frame, with events relayed from multiple points of view, including that of a young major stationed in the Pacific (Anthony Ramos), a disillusioned and unprepared deputy advisor (Gabriel Basso), a Secretary of Defence who can barely reckon with the current reality (Jared Harris), and the President himself (Idris Elba), fairly new to the job when the crisis hits. This is a potent and ingeniously constructed film. Bigelow has made a modern-day real-world thriller (or perhaps horror!) film, that is unsettling for all that it does not show.