The Covenant

tl;dr WATCH IT. Great movie, well crafted, tight story, good messages, balance of engaging dialogue and grounded action.

Spoiler free summary:

Near the end of the Afghan war an Army unit is hunting Taliban supply caches when a mission goes wrong. The only survivors are the injured and incapacitated unit commander and the Afghan interpreter. Pursued by the Taliban, the interpreter keeps the commander alive and carries him through the rugged Afghan terrain for weeks until they are back in friendly territory.

Later, the US bureaucracy fails to give the heroic interpreter promised visas. The commander, who is consumed by his life-debt, takes it upon himself to launch a one man operation to rescue the interpreter and his family.

Possibly spoilery analysis:

This movie feels like a modern day western, with minimal dialogue, lingering landscape shots, and emotional music making a good portion of the runtime. The relationship between the interpreter and the commander is established and developed through very few total words, but the growing mutual respect between them is clear to the audience.

There is a bit in the middle, after the return to the US, where Jake Gyllenhaal gets to emotionally monologue and has a few lines that edge into corny territory but nothing that is unforgivable. It really is a "guy" version of a chick flick where the emphasis is on "manly" virtues like commitment, brotherhood, and perseverance.

There are no "twists" or "subversion of expectations". Everything progresses linearly which is honestly refreshing. Nobody is an action hero, the peril feels realistic, and the tense scenes have weight.

The Taliban work fine as the bad guys with stormtrooper aim and unlimited numbers. No attempt is made to humanize the enemy, they are mooks in face-covering scarves whose purpose is to chase and shoot at the heros.

Overall the movie conveys great messages of paying your debts, male friendship through mutual struggle, and honor in sacrifice for your brothers.

More possibly spoilery category breakdown: (0 being highest score, 5 being unwatchable)

Feminism: (.5) No female main characters. The commander's wife is shown as competent in running a business without needing his help. She supports his quest to save his friend without reservations. The ending of the movie deliberately shows the pilot of the plane where the heros are flying home is female.

Faggotry: (.5) No sexuality outside of typical military humor of the guys calling each other gay as banter.

Diversity: (1) The interpreter is a lighter brown arab type and most of the movie takes place in Afghanistan. A good portion of the movie is just the interpreter but he doesn't feel like mary-sue, he is shown struggling and nervous as expected. The commander's army unit is fully diverse but race is never brought up.

Subversion:(0) The movie criticizes the American treatment of the Afghan interpreters after the war which seems legitimate to me. I didn't notice any anti-White, anti-West, or anti-Christian messaging.