#REVIEW: “SEPTEMBER 5”

By Mr. Will Wong

Based on true events surrounding the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis, Swiss Director Tim Fehlbaum‘s SEPTEMBER 5 is riveting storytelling, which surely will be at the forefront of awards season discussion.

The Drama centers on the ABC Sports broadcast team who were assigned to cover the Olympics, only to find themselves very quickly pivoting in what would become groundbreaking first-of-its-kind live news coverage of terrorism.  Led by Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) and Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), the team are pushed to make critical decisions that balance journalistic integrity, with a new roadblocks coming their way as the news unfolds unpredictably real time, as eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team are held hostage.

The Film moves along at a brisk, unrelenting pace at 94 minutes’ runtime, as the ABC broadcast team struggle to overcome issues with access amidst a very scary and uncertain time. Fehlbaum does a masterful job creating a lingering feeling of anxiousness – that anything could go wrong at any given point. The look of the Film feels authentic to the time period in which it is set, with a bit of grain and grit, seamlessly toggling between actual footage of presenters Jim McKay and Peter Jennings, and its Actors. If you love films like Argo, this is right up your alley, in ways echoing some of that Best Picture winner’s intensity and themes.

And though ultimately, the team would prevail under dire circumstances, the biggest takeaways are how we’re left pondering our relationship with the Media and how we consume it. And whether or not a tragic outcome could have been avoided. Even more unsettling, did the team’s coverage in any way decide the fate of these hostages? It is chilling, and something you think about long after the credits roll.

SEPTEMBER 5 is led by an outstanding pair of lead performances from both Sarsgaard and Magaro, the latter whom we loved in 2023’s PAST LIVES. Even with celebrated bodies of work, this Film manages to feel like a breakthrough still for each.  This is outstanding and accomplished filmmaking.

Paramount Pictures Canada release SEPTEMBER 5 on December 13, 2025 (select cities) and expands January 17, 2025.