In Danish director Tobias Lindholm’s look at the moral quandaries of the Afghanistan War, an officer, Claus (Pilou Asbæk), orders an airstrike that kills 11 civilians, and then must stand trial back home in Denmark for that decision. He must also face his wife Maria (Tuva Novotny), who’s been struggling to raise their three kids alone.
Here, as in 2012’s “A Hijacking,” Lindholm is concerned with psychology under duress, and his camera catches each tiny human reaction.
Despite a too-tidy wrap-up, it’s a humane film, one that sees the war as a tragedy for the Afghans, not just Western soldiers. It’s a pity that “A War” will be seen by only a fraction of those who turned out for the pieties and yowling stereotypes of “American Sniper.”