Nate Foster (Daniel Radcliffe), a young, idealistic FBI agent, goes undercover to take down a radical right-wing terrorist group. The bright up-and-coming analyst must confront the challenge of sticking to a new identity while maintaining his real principles as he navigates the dangerous underworld of white supremacy.
Daniel Radcliffe has, up until now, gone out of his way to separate himself entirely from Harry Potter. Yet, for whatever reason, it's always played at the back of the audience's mind. However, almost no performance post-Potter has utilised what made him so compelling in the role, i.e. his ability to convincingly portray innocence and naivete. Here, in Imperium, it's the very centre of the film and what makes it his best film outside of the mega-franchise.
Radcliffe plays an idealistic FBI agent who's swept up into an investigation into domestic terrorism by the more experienced Toni Collette. Alone, sullen, withdrawn, Radcliffe's character is picked upon by his colleagues and left feeling marginalised until he's given a chance to go undercover and infiltrate neo-Nazis and other white power groups in Virginia. Pretty soon - almost too soon - his character begins to earn the trust of a local group of skinheads and works his way through the ranks, all whilst reporting back to Collette.
What the film does so accurately is it shows Radcliffe's character not necessarily being seduced by the ideals of the group, but by the power and validation it gives him to know that he's convinced them all of his fake identity. He's fooled them into believing that he is a white supremacist and that he has the knowledge they need to meet their goals. Daniel Ragussis' script really does show that infiltration and undercover work isn't about dodgy moustaches and appearances, it's about fulfilling a need for the target - something that many undercover thrillers rarely focus on or even acknowledge. Here, it's the central point of the story and that's what make it so fascinating to watch.
As mentioned, Daniel Radcliffe gives his best performance outside of Harry Potter and it's almost because of his time as the Boy Who Lived that makes him so compelling. It's so clear that Radcliffe himself is desperate to prove himself as a versatile actor and that he can't be defined by just one role and that plays into his performance. His character is so eager and ready to prove himself, either to the FBI or to those he's deceiving, that he'll do anything to make it happen. It's that same innocence and lack of awareness for himself that makes it all the more compelling to watch. Toni Collette does a great job of playing his handler the requisite amount of ambivalence and care, sharing a bottle of cheap booze with him in a blacked-out jeep whilst telling war stories. Tracy Letts, meanwhile, is perfect as the snake-oil broadcaster who is the initial target of their investigation whilst Sam Trammell plays a frighteningly normal white supremacist whom Radcliffe's character forms a unique bond with.
On his second film, writer-director Daniel Ragussis has a real sense of intelligence when it comes to staging action sequences and using visuals as a medium for storytelling. A montage of real-life white supremacists and neo-Nazis is juxtaposed with Radcliffe's character reading Mein Kampf and other books, underlining passages whilst an oppressive electronic soundtrack blares in the background. Another scene, set during a white pride rally, quickly descends into chaos and turns into a chase sequence is, again, done so with a keen eye for staging and camerawork that one would expect from a veteran thriller director.
Overall, Imperium is a fascinating insight into the disturbing world of white power and supremacy, told from a unique perspective and with a surprising amount of emotional heft to it. Recommended.
