Operation Avalanche (film)


Operation Avalanche is a 2016 American-Canadian found footage conspiracy thriller film directed by Matt Johnson, who co-wrote the film with Josh Boles. Johnson and Owen Williams star as CIA agents who infiltrate NASA to expose a potential mole, only to become embroiled in a conspiracy to fake the Moon landing portion of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.

Plot

Two CIA agents, part of the Agency’s small Audio Visual Department, infiltrate NASA to expose a potential mole working for the Soviet Union. There, they find that NASA has kept its inability to reach the 1969 deadline for the Apollo 11 Moon landing a secret, with a plan to cover the problem by shooting down the Apollo 11 capsule and blaming the Soviets. When the young agents learn that the Moon mission can execute everything but the lunar landing itself, they become involved in a plot to use their AV skills to fake the landing portion. As their operation continues to a successful conclusion, the team becomes increasingly paranoid that they are being watched, by either the mole or by the CIA itself. As the Apollo 11 mission nears, the team buries copies of what becomes the found footage in a verdant rural field.

Cast

Many of the actors, including the five leads, used their real names. Those actors scrolled in the end credits as “Himself” or “Herself”, while others scrolled with their character’s name.

Production

Production took place in Toronto, Houston, and Washington, D.C., starting June 30, 2014. The NASA scenes were shot on location. To get permission, Johnson told them he was making a student documentary. Additional scenes were accomplished through liberal application of newly-permissive fair use laws.

Release

Operation Avalanche premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Johnson had received an offer to premiere the film at the Toronto International Film Festival but declined, reasoning that the film would be lost in the large number of films shown there. Lionsgate released it in the US on September 16, 2016.

Reception

, a review aggregator, reports that 69% of 51 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.4/10. Metacritic rated it 69/100 score based on 18 reviews. Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, "Matt Johnson and Owen Williams' wild, borderline-illegal stunt delivers big time on its crazy premise." John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "likeable if not always convincing fantasy that gets much mileage from its period feel". Anthony Kaufman of Screen Daily wrote that the film "comes across more as a rambling lark than a tightly conceived film".

Accolades