Greg Barker’s new movie ‘MANHUNT’ could easily be described as the documentary tale behind Kathryn Bigelow’s excellent ‘ZERO DARK 30’ Oscar nominated movie with a little more backroom detail thrown in.  

Back in 1993, a team of top female CIA analysts known as ‘The Sisterhood’ were the first to identify evidence that a terrorist group known as al Qaeda was spreading and that Osama bin Laden was its leader. Soon after that there were the first bomb attacks at the World Trade Center and the interest in the group started to get more serious. By 1995 the CIA had formed a small group called Alec Station with the express mission of focusing on al Qaeda.  But as the film confirmed the more that ‘The Sisterhood’ was convinced that Bin Laden was very much for real, their reports to the Agency’s hierarchy fell on deaf ears, as the men in charge would not take his threats seriously.

Barker’s film certainly substantiates the bulk of all the facts of the case that ‘Zero’ movie covered and  that they were berated for by politicians and security professionals alike.  The whole premise that essentially Bin Laden was finally tracked down by a determined and diligent female operative/s who may have been more successful earlier in her male bosses had the balls to accept all her compelling evidence was completely confirmed here.  As too was unhesitantly the very regular and consistent use of torture on informants, and what is surprising watching and listening to the gung-ho attitude of the CIA agents on screen, that there wasn’t even more of it going one. (Maybe there was!)

As fascinated as I was to learn what really went on in the greatest manhunt ever, I simply couldnt ignore the fact that the normal reticent and super-secretive CIA were allowing all these Agents and Analysts to speak openly on camera about what went down.  It was too good to be true, and felt too much like a CIA advertorial at times, and a channel to put their view out there in the midst of all this finger-pointing and blame game that exists by the people who ask the simple question ‘why did it take so long to find this one man?’

Without the existence of ‘Zero’ movie, this documentary would have made compelling viewing.  As it is, it’s still somewhat fascinating, but should be taken with a very large pinch of salt.  It’s an HBO Documentary so will be aired on US TV screens in May, so you can judge for yourself.

★★★★★★★