The impact of war is felt far beyond the battlefield. Those who have family members who have been deployed to active duty all share the difficult journey of having family members traumatized by combat or losing loved ones to enemy fire. The journey of grief and acceptance affects everyone differently, and the new film Ballistic takes an angle not seen on screen before.
Ballistic follows Nance Redfield (Lena Headey), a single mother who works in a munitions factory and prepares for her daughter-in-law, Diana (Amybeth McNulty), to give birth to Nance’s grandchild. Nance’s son, Jesse (Jordan Kronis) is deployed in Afghanistan when she receives the news he has been killed by enemy fire. Unable to cope with the loss, Nance discovers that the bullet that killed Jesse was made in the very factory she works in. Haunted by guilt, Nance sets out to find out the truth of how American-made ammunition made its way into enemy guns, a quest that uncovers secrets and lies that she struggles to reconcile with.
I spoke with star Lena Headey and writer/director Chad Faust about their new film. Lena Headey talked about her long friendship with Chad and how they collaborated to change her character, who was originally written as a father, not a mother. Headey also discussed the state of the world today and how it influenced and informed the making of Ballistic. Chad Faust discussed how an article he read in a waiting room helped him craft the screenplay, and how his experience as an actor shapes his choices as a filmmaker. Check out the full interviews in the embed above.
Ballistic opens in select theaters and On Demand on April 17.
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