It is April of 1994, and Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy, Blood and Chocolate) is getting ready to teach his first term at the Ecole Technique Officielle (ETO) in Kigali, Rwanda. The headmaster Father Christopher (John Hurt, V for Vendetta) does what he can to amusingly temper his associate’s enthusiasm, while at the same time kiddingly pointing out the fact solid student and star runner Marie (Clare-Hope Ashitey, Children of Men) has something of a small crush upon him.

But things are not as rosy as they seem. NATO Captain Delon (Dominique Horwitz, Stalingrad) and his men are quietly using the ETO as a staging area to monitor the fragile peace accord between the ruling Hutu government and the Tutsi minority. Unfortunately that peace is short-lived, and after the Rwandan President is killed local Hutu militia, sponsored by extremist members of the governing party, start systematically hunting down and murdering every Tutsi in sight.

Soon the school is overrun with refugees trying to escape the killings. Father Christopher and Joe do what they can, the latter even going into the city to bring back television journalist and friend Rachel (Nicola Walker, Four Weddings and a Funeral) to document the horrors going on just outside the ETO’s front gates. Yet none of this makes any difference, and even though Delon keeps arguing to engage NATO and the United Nations refuse, ordering their troops to simply stand by and watch as the country quickly descends into genocide.

There is a cynical part of me deep down who believes the only reason director Michael Caton-Jones (City by the Sea) has made Beyond the Gates is to erase the stench of Basic Instinct 2 from our collective cinematic memories. If that was indeed the case, I am happy to report he has succeeded wonderfully. That said, if he was also trying to return to his nearly-perfect golden days of Scandal, Rob Roy and This Boy’s Life I’m sorry to say he’s unfortunately missed the mark.

But, thankfully, he hasn’t missed by that wide a margin. This movie might be best described as the anti-Hotel Rwanda, a sobering and depressing look at how cultural differences and long-simmering animosities can lead a country to genocide almost overnight. The film packs a very mean punch, and by the time the United Nations decides to pull out and the Tutsi nationals are left to fend for themselves it’s a hard heart who fails to be even just a tiny bit moved.

The thing is, I couldn’t help but feel more than once Caton-Jones was pushing far harder than the material required. David Wolstencroff’s (BBC’s Spooks) screenplay isn’t exactly subtle (not, considering the horrific subject matter, that is probably should be), but that doesn’t mean the director has to cram his themes down an audience’s throat. This isn’t a movie about shades of gray, and anyone who can’t tell the difference between what is morally right and morally wrong should probably have their head examined.

The film is still more than a bit didactic, and while I’m pretty positive I agree with Caton-Jones’ politics (or, at least the ones as they apply to this particular issue) I’m just as sure I didn’t need to be beaten over the head by them. There are moments of such in-your-face obviousness it detracts a bit from the power of what is going on, all if it then smothered by Dario Marianelli’s (The Return) grossly overbearing score.

Still, so much of this is so stirring and so effective I couldn’t help but become emotionally moved. More, the filmmaker unleashes some scenes of such hypnotic power the effect is absolutely devastating. The sight of one character, a pleasant soul full of love and a lust for life I couldn’t help but admire, suddenly brandishing a machete, his leg covered in blood and wearing a friendly smile made ice water run straight through my veins. It is a shocking, deeply disquieting moment, the look on Joe’s face enough to make me reach for more tissue than I had left in my purse.

Dancy is just fine here, really throwing himself headfirst into the material. Horwitz is equally as solid, while young Ashitey continues to impress this time playing an emotionally questioning teen looking for answers from a High Power who doesn’t presently appear to be listening. Walker is also quite good, a scene between her and Dancy at a Hutu checkpoint as she calmly tries to keep him focused all the while knowing their lives are in immediate danger is as tensely terrific as any similar scene this year.

This is Hurt’s showcase, however, and to say he makes the most of it would be a colossally gross understatement. In a four-plus decade career spanning the good (The Proposition), the bad (The Skeleton Key), the ugly (Lost Souls) and the classic (Alien, 1984, The Elephant Man), the actor hasn’t had a role quite as complex and mesmerizing as this one in quite some time. He has a sequence driving through the deserted streets of Kigali, making stops at a local pharmacist, a Hutu roadblock and a Catholic Church, that is incredible. The legendary talent conveys so much by doing so little, the viewer thrust into his chaotic world with the bat of an eyelash, the crack of a smile, the shudder of a frown and the shedding of a single tear.

Because of all this and more I am not about to say this film isn’t worthwhile. There is a great deal I wish Caton-Jones had handled better, moments I wanted to be a bit more solid and told with not so heavy a hand. But none of this is enough to derail the picture. The story of Beyond the Gates is one that needed be told. More importantly, it is one that should never ever be forgotten.

Film Rating: êêê  (out of 4)