The Invisible War

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

7.1K

YOUR RATING

An investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military.

Play trailer1:54

1 Video

18 Photos

Military Documentary Crime Documentary

An investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military.An investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military.An investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

7.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 11 wins & 14 nominations total

Trivia
A rare example of a film actually influencing government/military policy, end credits state that "On April 14.2012, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, watched this film. Two days later, he took the decision to prosecute away from unit commanders." However, it was noted that "this is not enough." The preceding is a true statement, but can be misleading. Military Commanders still hold prosecutorial discretion, but they can no longer be in the unit where the alleged misconduct had taken place. An "outside, higher ranking colonel" would now hold prosecutorial discretion.

Quotes
Kori Cioca - US Coast Guard: Thank you for your sacrifice, in whatever shape it may come with serving. God Bless.

Connections
Edited into Independent Lens: The Invisible War (2013)

Soundtracks
Need Someone
Performed by Mary J. Blige
Courtesy of Geffen Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User reviews30

Review

Featured review

9/10

simply a great documentary

There are a number of things Invisible War does well.

1. It conveys a point of view.

2. It's about a compelling subject.

3. It has sympathetic characters.

4. It has a narrative arc, which is challenging. It relies on the lawsuit and Cioca's disability claim.

5. The cinematography, audio and film making don't draw attention to themselves and distract from the subject.

I was quoted in a book about sexual assault in the military. In that book the author made the assumption there was some golden age before sexual assault was a problem in the military, a claim she offered no proof of.

I mention this because it's possible to tell the story of rape and sexual assault in the military and get it wrong.

This film uses a pretty hard-and-straight approach. It sticks to cases that are pretty well documented to illustrate the statistical picture create by the military's own data.

And the film has a couple villains to root against. The Air Force major general and her civilian predecessor come off as part clueless and part immoral.