I have to admit that one of the main reasons why I decided to check out this movie is to see Daniel Radcliffe as a white supremacist. I mean, he shaved his head to look more like a skinhead but is he able to pull off such a role? Turns out, he fucking is but there are other issues here we’ll talk about a bit later. Imperium is a solid and a bit bland thriller about a young FBI agent who has to go undercover and expose a dangerous white supremacist group. The story is inspired by real events former FBI agent Michael German went through during his one year of undercover work. And who doesn’t like a good undercover movie based on real events? And right away, I have to tell you that there won’t be much action here.
Imperium is more character-driven, trying to paint a realistic picture of a white supremacist. This is why I can forgive its slower pacing and flat storytelling. Not to mention the sometimes unintentionally hilarious heavy-handedness. The perfect example of this is the first meeting between Radcliffe as a skinhead and the gang in a diner. You can practically see the objectives they had for this scene and how they went about achieving them. Without much nuance or atmosphere, we go from event to event, slowly building to a predictable finale. Luckily, the cast along with the potency of the topic saved Imperium from becoming a boring and messy dud.
Not only Radcliffe was phenomenal but Toni Collette matched his brilliant performance. However, one man stole the show here and his name is Sam Trammell. His subdued and simmering performance was not short of amazing. And frightening, given the fact he plays probably the most dangerous and elusive bad guy in the entire movie. Over the past few decades, we’ve seen a number of movies dealing with this subject. Imperium reminds me a bit of the 6th and 7th seasons of the television show Homeland. It features Brett O’Keefe, a right-wing radio personality played masterfully by Jake Weber.
I also liked the fact we’re not following some muscular and tough FBI agent but a nerd who has to use his wits to survive in this brave new world of racism. Too bad we didn’t see more of this transformation process. We see him do his research and that’s about it. I was expecting a bit of practice in front of a mirror or something like that. Something that will help us not only to get to know him better but also to learn more about infiltration tactics. After all, an actual FBI agent wrote the script for the movie. Most of the characters felt a bit one-dimensional but at least they were sufficiently developed.
In other movies about skinheads like Romper Stomper or American History X, this was nicely covered up by jarring visuals and authenticity. Still, I felt uneasy each time I saw people like this operate freely in the United States. I mean, to know that these white supremacist conventions are actually happening along with those despicable marches is something I just can’t get over. And now we have not just Elon Musk but also Steve Bannon doing the Nazi salute live on air. These are truly some fucked up times. And yeah, Nazi punks fuck off! Now I feel better.
With a bit more balls and better storytelling, Imperium could’ve been a classic. Instead, it’s going straight to the watch-once-and-forget bin. If you’re looking for movies about skinheads and white supremacist gangs I highly recommend both The Order and especially Green Room. The former is also based on true events and as such I think you should take a look at it first. Mostly to wash the mediocre flavor of this movie and then you can move on to the gut-shot that is Green Room.
Director: Daniel Ragussis
Writers: Michael German, Joe Turner Lin, Daniel Ragussis
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Toni Collette, Tracy Letts, Sam Trammell, Nestor Carbonell, Chris Sullivan
Fun Facts: Imperium is based on Michael German’s 2008 book, Thinking Like a Terrorist: Insights of a Former FBI Undercover Agent. German was not just an FBI agent but also a whistleblower. He even testified in front of Congress alleging misconduct and mismanagement in counterterrorism cases.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4781612/
