The War Game (1965)

Director: Peter Watkins
Runtime: 48 minutes

Synopsis: A docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain.

Verdict: The only fictional docudrama to ever win the Best Documentary Oscar is one I consider a must watch. In it, British director Peter Watkins attempts and succeeds in making a short but very dense film about a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain in the midst of a Cold War and only a couple of year following the Cuban Missile Crisis that ignited a fear of the bomb everywhere in the world.

Watkins' "documentary" is filled with fake interviews, fake footage, and fake reactions of the hypothetical Russian attack, making the film an extremely realistic, chilling watch that does an amazing job at showing the repercussions of such an attack on a micro and macro scale. The film is also an incredibly edited one, with the documentary format pretty much nailed and the building of tension handled as perfectly as possible. It's only 48 minutes long and is aware that it would've overstayed its welcome had the runtime been longer.

"The War Game" is a fascinating watch that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Watkins crafted what can only be described as a masterpiece in a genre that has mostly been used to make comedies, or mockumentaries, similar to "Borat" or "This Is Spinal Tap". Definitely seek this one out.

FINAL GRADE: 10/10