The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. In 2004, Sergeant First Class William James arrives as the new team leader of a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit in the Iraq War. He replaces Staff Sergeant Matthew Thompson, who was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Baghdad. His team includes Sergeant J. T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge. James is often approached by an Iraqi youth nicknamed "Beckham", attempting to sell DVDs. James challenges him to a game of football and takes a liking to him. Sanborn and Eldridge consider James's maverick disposal methods and attitude reckless, raising tensions. When they are assigned to destroy explosives, James returns to the detonation site to pick up his gloves. Sanborn openly contemplates killing him by "accidentally" triggering the explosives, making Eldridge uncomfortable. Nothing is done, and tensions continue to increase.
Returning to Camp Victory in their Humvee, the team encounters five armed men in traditional Arab garb and casual attire standing near a Ford Excursion, which has a flat tire. James's team has a tense encounter with their leader, who reveals they are private military contractors and British mercenaries. They have captured two prisoners featured on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. The group comes under fire; when the prisoners attempt to escape in the confusion, the leader of the mercenaries shoots them, as they are valuable dead or alive. Enemy snipers kill three of the mercenaries, including their leader. Sanborn and James borrow a gun to dispatch three attackers, while Eldridge kills a fourth.
During a raid on a warehouse, James discovers a body he believes is Beckham, in which a bomb has been surgically implanted. During the evacuation, Lieutenant Colonel John Cambridge, the camp's psychiatrist and a friend of Eldridge, is killed in an explosion; Eldridge blames himself for his death. James breaks into an Iraqi professor's house, seeking revenge for Beckham, but his search reveals nothing.
Called to a petrol tanker detonation, James decides to hunt for the insurgents responsible, guessing they are still nearby. Sanborn protests, but when James begins a pursuit, he and Eldridge reluctantly follow. After they split up, insurgents capture Eldridge. James and Sanborn rescue him, but one of James' rounds hits Eldridge in the leg. The following morning, James is approached by Beckham, alive and well, whom James ignores and walks by silently. Before being airlifted for surgery, Eldridge angrily blames James for his injury.