The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game is a 2014 historical thriller directed by Morten Tydum and written by Graham Moore. Benedict Cumberbatch plays a real life historical figure, Alan Turing, who had a crucial role during World War II deciphering German codes for the British. His costars also include Kiera Knightley, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, Matthew Good, and Mark Strong.

The film is loosely based off the true events of Alan Turing who was a cryptologist/mathematician. Turing helped to inspire modern technology when he created a machine able to break the mysterious German enigma, a complex code. The British kept that they broke the enigma a secret for 50 years before they finally spoke of it. Alan Turing died believing no one other than his co-workers knew of the feats he reached.

Commercially The Imitation Game was a success and grossed $233.6 million dollars worldwide. The film was criticized (as all films are) because of its unsound portrayal of historical events and Turing, who was a real person. Though some believed it to have been a failure on that behalf, the LGBT community applauded the movie.

According to The Huffington Post, the film even inspired the LGBT community to start a petition to pardon around 49,000 homosexual men charged under Britain's “gross indecency” law that had been repealed in 2003. Benedict Cumberbatch also signed an open letter calling for those convictions to be repealed (D. Carrier, The Guardian).

The Imitation Game was nominated for and received plenty of awards including an Academy Award for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay. Among others are the Empire Award for Best Thriller, GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film, and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Overall the film was impressive and whether it correctly identifies with the past is another story. We weren’t there when Alan Turing broke the enigma, therefore, we cannot correctly decide what really happened regardless of our history books. If the film had been WAY- WAY-WAY off then I’d be upset.

If you enjoy slow-moving thrillers then this is a good film for you. There aren’t any jump scares and the plot thickens at an even-like pace. If you like the movies The Theory of Everything, The Butler, American Sniper, The Judge, or 12 years a slave, then watch The Imitation Game. If you haven’t seen any of those then I suggest watching them as well.