Dragunov (2021)

Set in war torn Afghanistan, the opening scene of the films depicts the bloody aftermath of an ambush by Mujahideen fighters on a Russian convoy during the 1980s. Zahir, a local tribesman, scavenges through the carnage looking for anything that can be of use to him and his son Massoud. The risk of venturing into a dangerous environment pays off as he finds a Dragunov sniper rifle. Zahir takes his find home to Massoud with the intention of teaching him how to hunt with it. The story then moves to the present and the country is again at war, this time with a western coalition force led by the Americans and British. Massoud, the film's protagonist, has grown into a man and lives a solitary life after his father Zahir's death many years previously. He has mastered the Dragunov and has become a skillful hunter. The conflict attracts foreign mercenaries including Finch, an ex Royal Marine Commando, and his partner Bréchignac, a former Foreign Legion Paratrooper. Having missed their extraction by helicopter after a mission they are faced with a long and perilous journey on foot to the border. They decide to rest for the night not knowing that they have strayed into Massoud's territory. Dragunov is more about men at war rather than the actual fighting. The film focuses mainly on the precarious bond between the two mercenaries as they plan their escape, and the position of the solitary hunter while he decides the fate of the men he has trapped.