NOTE: A slightly different version of this post first was published at FILMINQUIRY.COM, an independent film magazine.
Recently, I had the chance to tour the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, which, as you can imagine, is quite a somber experience. Amid the thoughtfully presented exhibits, I started wondering about 9/11 as portrayed in film. Now, when I say “portrayed” I’m not talking tangentially, as when 9/11 is used to jumpstart plot (e.g., Zero Dark Thirty, Reign Over Me, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, to name but a few), but rather films that use the terrible events of that day as their plots.