If there is one thing I absolutely despise in this world is the mistreatment of women. The majority of my family and most of my really good friends are women, which is why I have a strong sense of respect, admiration and support for women. I can be a real hard-boiled feminist if the situation dictates it. So in my eyes misogyny is not only completely unacceptable, but also extremely disgusting especially because no matter how much we progress as a society, misogyny never seems to leave and unfortunately, it doesn’t show any signs of departure. When it comes to human trafficking, in most cases it involves the illegal trade of women for the purposes of sexual exploitation, slavery and torture among other things. This is an industry that has grown exponentially throughout the years and its profits are second only to drug trafficking. The Whistleblower addresses these ever-present subject matters.

The film takes place in post-war Bosnia as the United Nations and other corporations attempt to restore the country’s infrastructure and population. Following a messy divorce in which she lost custody of her teenage daughter, Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) goes to Bosnia as a UN peacekeeper not just to help, but more importantly to attain enough money to leave nearby her daughter. Bolkovac is rapidly struck by the current state of Bosnia especially of the negligence towards women, but in a short month manages to prosecute the first domestic disturbance case founding the husband guilty. After she’s promoted she encounters two young girls that have been raped, drugged and brutally tortured. As she attempts to discover what happened to them, Bolkovac rapidly uncovers that these girls were victims to human trafficking but more importantly that corruption runs deep in Bosnia and even the UN is involved.

When a film deals with heavy subject matter such as human trafficking, the best way to approach it is by not holding back a single thing. As we know, images sometimes speak louder than words and when the images depict really gruesome acts against women they have a very powerful effect on the viewer. The Whistleblower understands this perfectly, as there are scenes in the film that are excruciatingly difficult to watch. It is inhumane how these young women are treated, but what makes it even more horrific is the knowledge that no one does anything about it. When even UN peacekeepers promote and aid such activities you know you’re part of a broken, corrupt and highly misogynistic system. That is why Kathryn Bolkovac’s actions against these acts of injustice are so important.

As it is the case with most industries, men hold the highest positions and at times the most power. Bolkovac comes to Bosnia and she is basically the only women and person working there who sees there’s a huge problem with the system that no one seems to care for. Working in a sea of men is intimidating and difficult enough, but adding the fact that you’re investigating them for criminal activities in which they are all in on it makes things even more complicated and eventually life threatening. There are many instances in the film where you get really frustrated, because the level of corruption and negligence present is so overwhelming that sometimes it feels like Bolkovac might fail. She has to overcomes a lot in order to bring this issue to the forefront and it is really inspiring the lengths she goes to in order to be heard. These things are, of course, made even more powerful and palpable thanks to Rachel Weisz.

For me Rachel Weisz is without a doubt one of the best actresses working today, and while some of her films might not be great her performances always are. The last time Weisz gave such a powerful, emotional and honest performance was in The Constant Gardener. It seems she’s at her best when dealing with political matters. She really holds her own in the film and beautifully portrays a strong women trying to do something good. As the film progresses and her characters faces more tragedy, her performance adequately conveys the inner struggle and damage this investigation has on her. There a scene near the end in which she’s trying to get one of the girls to leave with her so she can be safe, but the girl refuses and you can just see the heart-break and frustration Weisz feels. That scene is one of the most heart-breaking scenes of the film and perfectly showcases the powerful performance driving this film.

If it weren’t for the last 20 minutes, I would categorize this film as being utterly amazing. The problem for me was that at the end everything was rushed and at no point we are given a sense of how influential Bolkovac’s actions were. As a matter of fact, it felt like the filmmakers gave up at the end and you leave the film feeling a bit underwhelmed. I honestly don’t understand why they decided to end the film so anticlimactically but it seems really misplaced after the excellence of everything that came before. Perhaps Bolkovac’s actions didn’t have the huge effect one expected, which I guess goes back to the fact that isn’t easy to accuse an institution who promotes international peace of corruption and human trafficking. But nevertheless, Bolkovac’s actions do raise awareness for this ever-expanding issue.

At the end of the day The Whistleblower is an extremely gripping and smart political thriller. Rachel Weisz delivers a powerhouse and inspirational performance as a woman who refuses to turn a blind eye to injustice. She is driving force of the film and succeeds beautifully in capturing the emotional nuances of Bolkovac’s inner struggle and the overwhelming frustration and complexity of her situation. But above all else, The Whistleblower puts in the forefront and makes us aware of a very current and horrible issue. It goes without saying that these acts against women are despicable, but it shows that we as a race still have a long way to go and that actions such as these ones only drive things backwards. It is no secret we are disgusting and hypocritical organisms, but for every inhumane human there’s always one who will do the right thing.

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