‘Ballistic’ (2025)

A thriller that follows Nance (Lena Headey), a munitions factory worker, after the tragic loss of her son Jesse (Jordan Kronis) while serving in Afghanistan, ‘Ballistic’ tracks the woman’s journey as she finds out a bullet manufactured in her factory could have killed her son.

Hard to examine, or even discuss, without presenting the topic in a heavy-handed or overtly preachy way, it is almost impossible to address American gun culture in a tactful and diplomatic way. Choosing to examine the issues surrounding the military-industrial complex through Headey’s Nance, writer and director Chad Faust explores the fallout of a mother in grief after suffering the ultimate loss of her son.

Exploring every avenue Nance goes down, the film focuses on the heartbroken parent and her attempt at seeking justice. Working her way up the ladder by going after her boss, the man who runs the factory that manufactures bullets which are supplied to the American military, Nance decides to cross names off a list until her son is vindicated.

Her path to justice also includes military personnel at the nearby military base, the recruitment officer who enlisted her son and eventually an Afghan immigrant, Kahlil (Hamza Haq) who offered to counsel Nance after losing her son. Making her way through everyone connected to her son, the film reiterates the simple notion that everyone is ‘just doing their job.’

Dissatisfied by the seemingly never-ending chase for who can be held responsible for her son’s death, Nance ultimately accepts the idea that no one person can be held accountable. Understanding that they are all trapped in a cruel, relentless and incessant mechanism, Nance challenges Kahlil to a showdown after reaching a boiling point. Ultimately realising that she has to accept what has happened, Nance goes to her daughter-in-law at the hospital, to help her deliver her grandson, now focusing on doing right by him, rather than pursuing revenge.

Headey’s performance is what the film hinges on. Delivering an increasingly unravelling character, Headey starts out as a steadfast and level-headed mother. Having raised her son by herself, she is ecstatic about his growing family and feels pride in him having enlisted to serve in the military. Things quickly take a turn after Jesse’s death, with Nance spiralling after she digs the bullet that killed her son out of his remains and has the shell examined to determine if the factory she works at made it.

Progressively agitated, Headey’s delivery conveys the mounting stress, anger and grief as the woman stalks her next target and becomes volatile and unpredictable. Ready and meditating on taking other people’s lives, Headey’s performance captures the terror and insanity that grief can lead to.

A well-executed representation of a worst case scenario, ‘Ballistic’ goes a long way in showing how quickly things can escalate and how little there is for any one person to achieve when trying to challenge the current system that feeds itself, ensuring perpetual war. Carried in large part by Headey, ‘Ballistic’ may seem a little obvious sometimes, but goes a long way in showing how dramatic the loss of a child can be and the lengths to which some may go in search of justice.

Score: 2/4