A trial of mutiny lies at the centre of The Exorcist director William Friedkin’s final film, following his death in August.
Having premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival earlier this month, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial follows a U.S. naval first officer, Lieutenant Stephen Maryk (Jake Lacy), on trial after forcibly relieving his captain, Lieutenant Commander Phillip Queeg (Kiefer Sutherland), of his command during a storm at sea. During the court-martial, the subject of Queeg's state of mind at the time proves the core debate, and the question of whether the crew's acts were mutinous or courageous will be unpacked by both sides.
The film is based on Herman Wouk's 1951 Pulitzer-winning novel, which has had a string of adaptations on screen and stage.
"The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is an entertaining, thoroughly engaging courtroom drama that bides its time by placing its highly capable, star-studded ensemble front and center (including The Wire’s Lance Reddick, who died earlier this year)," writes Siddhant Adlakha in his review for Mashable.
"It’s a modern update to Wouk’s post-World War II writing that, at first, seems to strip away some of the play's core identity. But by the time its contemporary musings snap into place, its conscience is far less easy to parse than that of preceding versions."
How to watch: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is streaming Oct. 6 on Paramount+ through Showtime.
