In the bonus segment of the DVD version of "Drone," there was a deleted scene that was instructive in defining the dysfunction of the Wistin family. The teenage son named Shane is being counseled at his high school, and he opens up to the psychologist about his home life. The youngster is grieving over the death of his grandfather, but the grief extends to Shane's frustrating relationship with his dad with whom the youngster is unable to communicate.

The inclusion of this deleted scene in the final film cut would have explained more completely the backdrop for the troubled Wistin family that was left vague for filmmgoers. And the core emotion of guilt is what drives the parents of Shane: the guilt of the mother Ellen who is having an affair and the guilt of the father Neil who is a contractor for the CIA involved in drone strikes in the Middle East.

The film opens in Miramsha, Pakistan on March 21, 2016, where innocent civilians are killed in an American drone strike. On the one-year anniversary of the strike, the scene shifts to Renton, Washington where on the fateful anniversary, the Wistin family will be confronted by Imir Shah, whose wife and daughter perished in the strike.

Unintentionally, the serious drama lapses into near comedy, due to the naivety and indeed stupidity of the husband, who fails to perceive the danger posed by Mr. Shah, arriving at his home with a briefcase and claiming that he wishes to spend $16,000 for a used boat! No other motives about the stranger's bizarre appearance on his property occur to the dim-witted Neil.

Without a doubt the most interesting character in the film is the inventive Imir Shah. He succeeds in evading the feds in entering the country. He skillfully tracks the top secret work activities of Neil. And he shadows Ellen, capturing her on camera with her lover Ted. In the most moving part of the film, Imir helps Neil with the preparation of the eulogy for his father, suggesting that funeral speech should open with a childhood memory and then address the three constituent elements of how the dead live on in our memories through (a) their good deeds; (b) charity given in the spirit of their good name; and (c) the knowledge they leave behind that benefited others. Those words of wisdom seemingly had never been considered by Neil.

The heart and soul of the film is the confessional that occurs in the Wistin family. Yet the aftereffect of the family's newfound understanding seems shallow. Neil was in violation of the Geneva protocol. Will his whistleblowing actions serve to expiate his sins? Will they be anything more than a drop in the bucket with regard to the covert operations of the CIA? Similarly, it is not clear if Ellen will be transformed from the experience. Her background is in ethnology, and she teaches "comparative cultures" at the local community college. Will she become any more enlightened from the traumatic encounter in her home?

The family member who appears to have the greatest humanity is young Shane, who fittingly sends out a toy ship into the lake with a nobel tribute paid to his grandfather: "I'll see you in Valhalla, gramps!" Shane is in the best position to transform his life out of the ashes of the secrets and lies of the Wistin family.

DRONE is a promising would-be thriller exploring the morality and political fall-out arising from America's policy of using drone strikes to take down terrorist suspects abroad. The same subject matter has fuelled a slew of recent movies, but unfortunately aside from lots of soul-searching it really isn't handled very well here. When I saw Jason Bourque listed as director my heart sank (he's the guy responsible for tedious fare including ASTEROID: FINAL IMPACT and STONADOS) and things get very uninteresting after about 20 minutes in. The whole thing plays out as an extended family dinner; it wants to be intense and suspenseful, but it's just long-winded and boring. Sean Bean seems to be struggling with his American accent and none of the other actors are very interesting. A missed opportunity, then...

As the title suggests, Drone is about drone warfare. Safely ensconced behind computer screens, military contractors wage war thousands of miles away, it is remote controlled bombing raids.

A drone strike in a small Pakistan town in Miramsha, Pakistan in 2016 leads to collateral damage. Civilians died, a man going off to work, his wife waving him goodbye, two women walking home.

One year later Imir Shah knocks on the house of Neil Wistin in order to buy his boat which is for sale. Neil is emotionally distraught as his father has just passed away. However Imir has been tracking Neil and discovered that he has been lying to his family, he is a drone operator and he wants Neil to confess to his family what he has done.

Drone after its harrowing beginning slows down the pace. We learn about the Wistin family coming to terms of the loss of a loved one but deep down it is a dysfunctional family.

Imir skilfully invades Neil's life, helping him write his late father's eulogy but I find it hard to believe that even an IT expert like Imir could unearth so much about Neil and his family's activities.

The film has a dramatic conclusion that leads to Neil to reconsider what he has done but it is not a wholly successful in its aims.