Introduction

This chapter analyzes the film The Hurt Locker, including its stylistic and narrative devices, cultural impact, reception, and relationship to the genre. It analyzes what The Hurt Locker ultimately portrays about the Iraq War, which was officially brought to an end by President Barack Obama on the 18 December 2011, but still continues to be fought onscreen. It also explores the central contentions that are key to the affective impact of The Hurt Locker during the time of its release and after a decade later. The chapter talks about The Hurt Locker as one of the definitive American war films of the twenty-first century and as the first film from the genre to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It describes The Hurt Locker as a vivid and dynamically realised film, which should be regarded as a powerful cultural artefact intrinsically connected to the times in which it was made.