The Objective (2008)

33% of critics liked it
(12 reviews)
32% of users liked it
(3,443 ratings)

Forces in the front lines of the war on terror find themselves battling a foe more deadly than a bomb in this thriller. Ben Keynes (Jonas Ball) is a CIA operative based in the Middle East who is keeping his eyes peeled for a potential crisis a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11,… More Forces in the front lines of the war on terror find themselves battling a foe more deadly than a bomb in this thriller. Ben Keynes (Jonas Ball) is a CIA operative based in the Middle East who is keeping his eyes peeled for a potential crisis a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Keynes is checking some readings from a spy satellite when he discovers what appears to be a massive cache of radioactive material in the mountains of Afghanistan. Worried that Al Qaeda guerrillas are constructing a nuclear weapon, Keynes arranges to join a reconnaissance mission headed to Afghanistan, using the cover story that he's trying to ferret out an international terrorist leader. Keynes and the soldiers head into the mountains with a local, Abdul (Chems-Eddine Zinoune), serving as both translator and guide. Abdul warns Keynes and the soldiers that their intended destination is considered sacred ground by Afghans, and that they're risking their lives by trespassing. Keynes pays him little mind, but he and the soldiers soon discover that Abdul's warnings were well founded, and that a supernatural force lurks in the mountains more dangerous than any band of terrorists. The Objective was written and directed by Daniel Myrick, who made his debut in 1999 with the independent blockbuster The Blair Witch Project. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 31 min.
Directed By: Daniel Myrick
Written By: Daniel Myrick, Wesley Clark, Mark A. Patton
Genres: Action & Adventure, Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Apr 24, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Oct 13, 2009
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
[Director] Myrick does an admirable job of spinning tension from a group of guys mostly standing around, but too often the film's portentous tone seems more silly than suspenseful.
Alissa Simon, Variety
With a low-budget look, cliched dialogue, a stale plot and so-so acting, this supernatural thriller is unlikely to achieve the phenomenal success of its fabled predecessor.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Although the film has an undeniably strong, suspenseful tone -- not to mention symbolic resonance -- it doesn't rise above its overly familiar setup.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...a passable yet rather tedious piece of work.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
Blair Witch's co-mastermind Myrick teams with co-screenwriter Wes Clark Jr., son of the retired general for, well, Blair Witch In Burkas. And extraterrestrial Afghans as villains or village idiots, take your pick. Close Encounters Of The Imperialist Kind.
Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters
When the straggling survivors in The Objective learn they are expendable, they are also, much like the Nostromo crew, upset.
Luke Y. Thompson, L.A. Weekly
Ten years on, it's hard to begrudge the director for trying to make a comeback by rehashing his prior formula, but perhaps he should have stuck even closer and handed the cameras to the actors again
Cole Abaius, Film School Rejects
The film lags in four of five places, sometimes adding to the desolate mood and sometimes simply dragging.
Bill Gibron, PopMatters
Still, it's the shivers that count, and while Myrick may not make our spine tingle like he did back in the late '90s...The Objective is still an impressive piece of work
Sean Gandert, Paste Magazine
Even with its uber-clichéd last five minutes, The Objective may be one of the smartest horror movies this year.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
Blair Witch's co-mastermind Myrick teams with co-screenwriter Wes Clark Jr., son of the retired general for, well, Blair Witch In Burkas. And extraterrestrial Afghans as villains or village idiots, take your pick. Close Encounters Of The Imperialist Kind.
Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics
Director Daniel Myrick has taken his excellent work from the ultra-low-budget "Blair Witch Hunt," added some modest resources as befits that success and come up with a great little tale of suspense and horror.
Scott Weinberg, Cinematical
A bleak adventure flick and a very sweaty psychological thriller.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

First L

There's a point, around the half hour mark, where this movie may or may not lose you. It's the type of scene that shows how the lack of a big budget can cripple a sci-fi movie. The Objective is a schizophrenic little film that wants to be more than what it's… More
There's a point, around the half hour mark, where this movie may or may not lose you. It's the type of scene that shows how the lack of a big budget can cripple a sci-fi movie. The Objective is a schizophrenic little film that wants to be more than what it's unfortunately capable of. The film takes place in Afghanistan, as a CIA agent has taken a group of special ops soldiers on an undisclosed mission to find some supposed atomic weapons of mass destruction. As the group travels further into the country, they encounter more and more maddening things, including strange lights and ghosts from centuries past. Daniel Myrick (who also wrote The Blair Witch Project) writes and directs what seems to be an attempt to capture lightning twice, as the film attempts the what-is-happening realism that made Blair Witch such a pioneering work. Unfortunately, it's been ten years since the Blair Witch Project came out, and movies in this style have been pretty played out. This film has several other strikes against it, including sci-fi channel movie-of-the-week quality special effects and at times, student film quality acting by some of the leads (really, there were times towards the end where the performances became laughable). The film does however, start off quite strong and I can't fully dismiss it as a whole. Also, I found the subject matter to be quite interesting, and even if the ending practically torpedoes the entire film, I can't say I didn't enjoy it overall.
Dead A

Totally bullshit. Cheap movie.
Jani H

"Dead men don't follow orders" Directed by Daniel Myrick, the man behind "Blair Witch Project", "The Objective" stands out as an ambitious and interesting movie. But it has it's flaws, drags on a bit and leaves the viewer cold in the end. The… More
"Dead men don't follow orders" Directed by Daniel Myrick, the man behind "Blair Witch Project", "The Objective" stands out as an ambitious and interesting movie. But it has it's flaws, drags on a bit and leaves the viewer cold in the end. The story is about a Special Ops group, lead by a CIA agent, on a relatively unclear mission in Afghanistan. It starts as an interesting mystery but in the end, "The Objective" leaves too much unexplained. A few hints are given here and there but with a bit more effort, this could've worked better. "I seem to know the direction but not the destination"
Deb S

A classified and dangerous mission set in Afghanistan focusing on American soldiers encountering something much more than just the Taliban that makes us question whether or not we should fear our government, our military, or something entirely different. Stunning cinematography!
Barry L

Pretty much run of the mill CIA/Special forces op film to start with or so I thought. The true reason for them being there was slightly different....have the Taliban got a nuke? are they aliens? what the hell is going on?....well you never quite know and that let the film down at the… More
Pretty much run of the mill CIA/Special forces op film to start with or so I thought. The true reason for them being there was slightly different....have the Taliban got a nuke? are they aliens? what the hell is going on?....well you never quite know and that let the film down at the end. Still a very well worked movie with an odd ending.
alan j

This is an interesting movie...can best be described as "Apocalypse Now Lite". Instead of a journey through the jungle, its the desert in Afghanistan. The storyteller is a CIA op, and his mission is to discover what is the identity of a heat signature detected from a spy… More
This is an interesting movie...can best be described as "Apocalypse Now Lite". Instead of a journey through the jungle, its the desert in Afghanistan. The storyteller is a CIA op, and his mission is to discover what is the identity of a heat signature detected from a spy satellite. Is it a nuclear device owned by the taliban or something more evil, more sinister?? That's the crux of the plot..and all the actors, while relatively unknown, put forth a fine effort. As the band of soldiers trudge further on their mission, strange things begin to occur, and they ultimately find themselves lost in a bermuda triangle area of sorts within the desert. The tension slowly builds as the weirdness factor increases..boiling over to a strange conclusion..open to much interpretation...you may not understand this movie..but its too interesting to turn away..
ken j

From of the makers of the Blair Witch Project comes this movie that i could only place it somewhere between sci fi and supernatural suspense as a group of soldiers and one CIA agent are led into the desert searching for what they think is a religious group leader only to end up in the… More
From of the makers of the Blair Witch Project comes this movie that i could only place it somewhere between sci fi and supernatural suspense as a group of soldiers and one CIA agent are led into the desert searching for what they think is a religious group leader only to end up in the bermuda triangle of the middle east. starts off slow and builds from there worth a watch if your into very subtle suspense terror type movies come with your standard twist ending that left me kinda wondering what just happened