History Film / Mosul2020

** The SWAT team bribes the Iraqi Green Zone Federal Police and collation military for them to forget that they had ever passed through. They get through the safe zone without difficulty.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Kawa starts out in a police officer uniform and then dons the uniform of Jasem's men as he joins their SWAT team and steadily grows more custom to fighting Daesh and starts to undergo TookALevelInBadass. He then wears a skull mask akin to that of [[Franchise/ThePunisher the Punisher]] (who the Iraqis [[https://time.com/3819227/punisher-iraq-isis/ adopted from the Americans as a symbol of the fight against Daesh]]), and much like the comic book hero, starts to more readily PayEvilUntoEvil. [[spoiler: The last shot of the movie before it fades to black is Kawa putting on his ''Punisher'' mask once more, showing how in the course of a day, he's been hardened into a brutal fighter.]]

* AnAxeToGrind: Kawa inherits a hatchet which he uses several times in the film, [[spoiler:including executing his traitorous former partner at the PMU hideout.]]

In the waning months of the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror tyrannical rule]] of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria[=/=]the Levant (ISIS/ISIL, or the Arabic ''Daesh'') over fallen Iraqi territories, the surviving members of the Nineveh Province SWAT encounter a group of pinned-down Iraqi police holding out in an abandoned caf&eacute. After rescuing them, they induct a young policeman, Kawa, into their ranks for an unspecified mission deep into the falling lines of the Islamic State.

'''Mosul''' is a Creator/{{Netflix}} war film directed by Matthew Michael Carnahan and produced by the Creator/TheRussoBrothers based on the book, ''The Desperate Battle to Destroy ISIS'' by Luke Mogelson.

In the waning months of the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror tyrannical rule]] of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria[=/=]the Levant (ISIS, ISIL, or the Arabic ''Daesh'') over fallen Iraqi territories, the surviving members of the Nineveh Province SWAT encounters a group of pinned-down Iraqi police holding out in an abandoned café against several waves of Daesh troops. After rescuing them, they induct a young policeman, Kawa into their ranks for an unspecified mission deep into the falling lines of the Islamic State.

->'''Kawa:''' ''"I don't really know who you are."''\\
'''Jasem:''' ''"We're the men who killed the men who killed your uncle. If you need to know more than that, then you shouldn't take the hat."''

* KillEmAll: The default policy of the SWAT team regarding the ''Daesh'' fighters. No mercy of any kind is given to them, even the captured or surrendering ones.

In the waning months of the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror tyrannical rule]] of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria / the Levant (ISIS or ISIL) over fallen Iraqi territories, the surviving members of the Nineveh Province SWAT encounters a group of pinned-down Iraqi police holding out in an abandoned café against several waves of ''Daesh'' troops. After rescuing them, they induct a young policeman, Kawa into their ranks for an unspecified mission deep into the falling lines of the Islamic State.

Kawa and the Nineveh SWAT team venture into ISIS-held districts all while witnessing the atrocities left in their wake; orphaned children, escaping civilians caught in the crossfire, mass looting by retreating ''Daesh'' forces and the utter destruction of their once-beautiful hometown. As the casualties mount, Kawa will discover the truth behind the SWAT's mysterious mission and the depths of what he will do in order to survive the conflict in Mosul.

* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: At one point the SWAT team members talk about how many of ''Daesh'''s fighters were once common criminals that the SWAT team themselves were largely responsible for imprisoning long before the rise of ISIS. [[spoiler:When most of them broke out during ISIS' rule, the criminal members took the opportunity to find and attempt to destroy the families of the SWAT team as petty revenge.]]
* AttackDrone: The SWAT team encounters multiple ISIS drones with [[ActionBomb C4 explosives]] strapped to them. One drone manages to destroy one of their team's Humvees but are later saved from more drones by PMU forces who shoot them down.

* BlatantLies: [[spoiler:Jameel]] claims that he knew the SWAT team wouldn't be in the café when he signalled the ISIS bomb truck to attack the site and that he made sure by looking out for him. Kawa immediately points out that he was in fact watching [[spoiler:Jameel]] do the deed, but clearly saw that he had barely even ''looked'' at the café while tossing the signal smoke.

* BoomHeadshot: Thaer is shot in the head when the side angle of his turret exposes him to an ISIS sniper.

* ChildByRape: [[spoiler:Waleed's wife reveals to her husband about her recent unwanted pregnancy, made by the ISIS fighter "appointed" to be her "husband" during the occupation.]]

** Jasem breaks the ugly truth to Kawa that many of the ISIS fighters he has executed were once former cops or army personnel who have sold their souls to the false promises of ''Daesh''.

* DarkIsNotEvil: The Nineveh Province SWAT members wear black uniforms and drive black-painted Humvees. They are definitely the good guys compared to ''Daesh'' fighters who are [[MildlyMilitary colourful]] in their clothing choices and gear.

* TheDeterminator: All of the SWAT fighters are this. They have taken staggering amounts of casualties since the start of the resistance against ISIS but despite overwhelming odds, they still press onto their mission.

* DueToTheDead: The SWAT team takes great care in transporting and offloading their dead whenever they can, even pausing for a while to give prayers for the deceased. Even when pinned down behind enemy lines, they make a promise to come back for the bodies of their fallen comrades when possible. This respect ''does not'' extend to dead ISIS fighters, whom the team either ignore, loot or take selfies with.

* EnemyMine: The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Mobilization_Forces Popular Mobilization Unit]] that the Nineveh SWAT Team encounters are essentially a puppet insurgent paramilitary under the control of [[UsefulNotes/PersiansWithPistols Iranian advisors]], but with at least one common enemy: ''[[BigBad Daesh]]''. While their meeting is tense, both sides eventually agree to exchange goods peacefully before the SWAT Team moves on to their next objective.
* AFatherToHisMen: Major Jasem refers to all members of his SWAT team his 'sons'. During breaks, he's regularly seen checking on their well-being as well as issuing them their pay. Every death in his team weighs heavily on him.

* GrenadeHotPotato: In the opening firefight, Kawa manages to toss back a grenade thrown earlier by an ISIS fighter. It blows up the original sender spectacularly.
* {{Hypocrite}}: For all their talk about fighting for Islam and preaching their moral high ground against foreign "infidels", the ISIS fighters' complete lack for anything resembling religious piety is lampshaded when Jasem comes across a large stash of Western pornographic material after clearing one of their hideouts.
--> '''Jasem:''' ''(disgusted)'' "Everything about them is empty."
* IHaveAFamily: [[spoiler:Jameel]] claims he was forced to work for ISIS, lest they come for his family living in the USA.
* ItsPersonal: The Mosul SWAT leader makes this trope a ''requirement'' for new members to be accepted into the group. Major Jasem claims that only those that have been wounded and/or witnessed their loved ones die to ISIS are trustworthy enough to fight by his side. [[spoiler:He is proven right when Kawa's old partner Jameel, who hadn't claimed any personal grudge with ISIS is later revealed to be a traitor working for them.]]

* MercyKill: Inverted. Waleed stops Kawa from finishing off a fatally-wounded ISIS sniper who had earlier [[ForTheEvulz intentionally shot and killed civilians]], just to let the dying bastard suffer. Kawa later passes the message to another team member to refrain from finishing off the ISIS sniper, who is ''still'' choking on his own blood ten minutes later.

* MoreDakka: The team's Humvees are fitted with a random array of any kind of machinegun they could get their hands on. They also use them to great effect suppressing ISIS snipers firing on the civilians at the checkpoint.
* NeatFreak: One particular trait of Major Jasem is his insistence of clearing the immediate area of loose garbage whenever they stop to rest. Even after the tense standoff at the PMU hideout, he still finds time to pick up several loose articles of trash around and toss them in a bin, much to the bewilderment of Colonel Afsahani. [[spoiler:This habit also gets him killed in the end when he trips a booby trap at the ISIS compound.]]

* OrphansOrdeal: The SWAT team runs into a pair of orphans, brothers who are carting the body of a dead parent. The younger one wishes to go with the SWAT over to the safe zone, while the elder brother stubbornly refuses to leave the body, [[HonorBeforeReason having sworn an oath]] [[DueToTheDead to bury them]]. After an argument and urgent plea by Jasem, the younger brother tearfully parts with his older brother and leaves with the SWAT. In the safe zone, Jasem bribes (and threatens) a passing refugee family to adopt the child they picked up. The fate of the older brother is [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse never revealed]].

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Despite being police officers and devout, praying men, the SWAT team ''do not'' take prisoners and will execute every ''Daesh'' fighter they come across in retaliation for all the evil shit that ISIS had performed on the Iraqi populace.

* RapePillageAndBurn: Sadly as with reality, ISIS has pretty much done this in all of their occupied territories, especially Mosul.

* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Applies to the whole SWAT team, who both the police and ISIS thought were dead after they went AWOL.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Kawa starts out in a police officer uniform and then dons the uniform of Jasem's men as he joins their SWAT team and steadily grows more custom to fighting ISIS and starts to undergo TookALevelInBadass. He then wears a skull mask akin to that of ''The Punisher'' who the Iraqis [[https://time.com/3819227/punisher-iraq-isis/ adopted from the Americans as a symbol of the fight against ISIS]] and much like the comic book hero, starts to more readily PayEvilUntoEvil. [[spoiler: The last shot of the movie before it fades to black is Kawa putting on his ''Punisher'' mask once more, showing how in the course of a day, he's been hardened into a brutal fighter.]]
* ShoutOut: Indirectly, but the mask that Kawa dons is similar to the one of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' to cover up a wound. The Iraqis witnessed American forces spray and use ''The Punisher'' logo throughout their occupation, [[https://time.com/3819227/punisher-iraq-isis/ which the Iraqis then appropriated as a symbol of their own against ISIS]]. Quite fitting with the brutal PayEvilUntoEvil actions Jasem's men commit against ISIS the same way ''The Punisher'' does for his opponents.
* SWATTeam: The Nineveh Province SWAT team are a group of seasoned fighters that have been resisting since ''day one'' of the ISIS occupation of Iraq. They have wrecked so much havoc and enemy casualties that ISIS has marked them as 'unforgivable' and will not take prisoners from any of their ranks.
* TheReveal: The true mission that the SWAT team is undergoing is initially kept from Kawa. Even when Jasem finally trusts him enough to tell him, Kawa doesn't want to hear it anymore after only half a day of traumatic fighting. [[spoiler:At the very end, it is revealed that their original mission to destroy an ISIS stronghold was only a pretext for getting close enough to Waleed's old home where his wife and child are waiting for his return years ago after that part of the city fell to ISIS. When command scrubbed the mission, the SWAT team essentially went AWOL in order to evacuate their own families when it became clear that ISIS were targeting them.]]

* WarIsHell: ''And how''. The movie might as well be the poster boy for this trope as applied to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror as it holds no punches in showing the sheer brutality of ISIS' actions against civilians, war crimes committed during the conflict, the harshness of UrbanWarfare, [[spoiler: especially how easy it is for friendly fire to occur]] and the fact that the political situation in Iraq means that the conflict is still far from over as terror cells will still loom and other powers such as Iran are still invested in the nation's chaos to spread their own agenda.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Though protagonists are nominally allied with the Iranian Special Forces Commander Isfahani against ISIS, tension springs between the group as large number of Iraqis, even though they're majority Shia like the Iranians, still don't want to be under Iranian domination and don't want them seeped into their operations.

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: And '''how'''. ISIS fighters are seen shooting retreating civilians as punishment for abandoning the Levant (i.e. using civilians as human shields against approaching collation forces). The SWAT team also executes surrendering enemies and captured ISIS prisoners on their end. Seeing as both sides aren't exactly signatories of the Geneva convention (one is a terrorist group, the other are rogue police officers), it's more of a GreyAndGrayMorality issue.

* ChekovsGun: After the cafe shootout, we see Waleed dropping something into his boot. At the very end of the film, we learn that it is a key to the apartment where his wife and daughter are held.

* CulturalPosturing: When Iranian Special Forces Commander Isfahani has his buttons pushed by Jasem when the latter insists Iraq still needs to be free from Iranian subjugation, Ifsfahani retorts that Iraq hasn't truly been an independent and prosperous nation since ''Ancient Babylon'' and would be lost without its Persian ally. His bits of cultural posturing is TruthInTelevision, as large swathes of Iranian propaganda is about Persia's relative independence compared to its Levantine Arab neighbors and the fact that its history dates back thousands of years before its relatively modern Gulf Arab neighbors.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Kawa starts out in a police officer uniform and then dons the uniform of Jaem's men as he joins their SWAT team and steadily grows more custom to fighting ISIS and starts to undergo TookALevelInBadass. He then wears a skull mask akin to that of ''The Punisher'' who the Iraqis [[https://time.com/3819227/punisher-iraq-isis/ adopted from the Americans as a symbol of the fight against ISIS]] and much like the comic book hero, starts to more readily PayEvilUntoEvil. [[spoiler: The last shot of the movie before it fades to black is Kawa putting on his ''Punisher'' mask once more, showing how in the course of a day, he's been hardened into a brutal fighter.]]

In the waning months of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria / the Levant (ISIS or ISIL) [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror tyrannical rule of fallen Iraqi territories]], the surviving members of the Nineveh Province SWAT encounters a group of pinned-down Iraqi police holding out in a café against several waves of ''Daesh'' troops. After rescuing them, they induct a young policeman, Kawa into their ranks for an unspecified mission deep into the falling lines of the Islamic State.

Kawa and the Nineveh SWAT team venture into ISIS-held districts all while witnessing the atrocities left in their wake; orphaned children, escaping civilians caught in the crossfire, mass looting by retreating ''Daesh'' forces and the utter destruction of their once-beautiful hometown. As the casualties mount, Kawa will discover the truth behind the SWAT's mysterious mission and the depths of what he will do in order to survive the conflict in Mosul

** The SWAT team bribes the Iraqi Green Zone police and military for them to forget they ever passed through. They get through without difficulty.

* OrphansOrdeal: The SWAT team runs into a pair of orphans, brothers who are carting the body of a dead parent. The younger one wishes to go with the SWAT over to the safe zone, while the elder stubbornly refuses to leave the body, [[HonorBeforeReason having sworn an oath]] [[DueToTheDead to bury them]]. Having little time, the younger brother tearfully parts with his older brother and leaves with the SWAT. In the safe zone, Jasem bribes (and threatens) a passing refugee family to adopt the child they picked up. The fate of the older brother is [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse never revealed]].