Since 9/11, numerous specials, movies, and programs dealing with the events of that day have become part of our media. Last year, after four years of grief, processing, and action, Hollywood saw fit to bring the events of that day to the big screen. And this spring, over five years after the tragic day, the big screen saw fit to visit 9/11 as it still exists today—in the hearts and lives of those personally affected by it.



United 93, World Trade Center, and Reign Over Me—the big three that have dared to depict narratives related to 9/11 on the big screen. They are all very different in their stories, their styles, and their perspectives. But after just seeing Reign Over Me and looking back on the other two, I see in each of them the common thread of dueling opposites.

In United 93, selfish ambition came up against courageous and selfless sacrifice. In World Trade Center, hope and survival fought death and destruction. And now, over five years after the attack, Reign Over Me shows the battle that still rages and pushes us all to see that when it comes to the Reign of Terror vs. The Reign of Love, love is always ready to put up one serious fight.

Five years ago, President George W. Bush addressed the Pentagon and the world saying:

We know that if you lost a son or a daughter… or a husband, or a wife, or a mom or a dad, life will never again be as it was. The loss was sudden, and hard, and permanent. So difficult to explain. So difficult to accept… One life touches so many others. One death can leave sorrow that seems almost unbearable. But to all of you who lost someone here, I want to say: You are not alone.

And this spring, Reign Over Me seeks to portray a version of those deeply personal stories that began for so many people over five years ago and still continue today. Stories of loss. Stories of despair. Stories of individual lives turned so upside down and the journeys to turn them right side up again.


Adam Sandler’s Charlie and Don Cheadle’s Alan

As the movie opens, we meet Adam Sandler’s Charlie and Don Cheadle’s Alan. Charlie lost his entire family on 9/11. Alan, Charlie’s college roommate, has not seen him since before the attacks. And when Alan meets Charlie again, Alan and the audience cannot ignore the fact that Charlie is not doing well.

At first, Charlie does not even seem to remember Alan. Any mention of Charlie’s family or his former work as a dentist brings confusion, a sense that he does not even know that either ever existed, and angry outbursts at any push towards a past that he clearly does not want to revisit. 

Aside from a few necessary connections, Charlie almost lives in his own world. Instead of saving the teeth and mouths of NYC, he sits at home and battles videogame dragons all day. When he’s not playing video games, he remodels a kitchen he never uses, again and again and again. And when he’s not doing either of those, he is usually drowning out any and everything around him with loud music on his ever-present headphones.

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