Viewing Patriots Day as a Bostonian was an immensely emotional experience, as I remember what it was like on the day of the Marathon bombing. The movie was almost too realistic at points, perfectly capturing how the city united in the days after the terrorist attack.

Starring Mark Wahlberg, the movie well represented the event, although seeing it could be too much too soon for some people, as the reality of the story is definitely there. Embedded in the movie, there was footage from the real day of the bombing in 2013, an unexpected addition to the scene, as it put real faces to the actors portraying the bombers.

While watching the movie, each and every one of the spectators in the completely sold out theater had some sort of tissue on hand, as the movie was quite graphic and honest about the day. I think the reality of the movie almost took the viewer out of that day, a senior, Anna Doggett, who saw the movie says that she “almost forget I was watching a movie about a real event, but when I remembered, it was heartbreaking”. The storytelling was immaculate, details such as the exact clothing each of the bombers were wearing were accounted for, giving the movie an almost eerie feeling.

Another senior, Madison Wahlberg, said that “she wishes she hadn’t seen the movie” because “it brought her back to a very dark day that I didn’t want to relive”. The power behind the script and the actors was impressive and heart wrenching.

An interesting thing I heard someone in the theater say was that the main character was completely unnecessary. Mark Wahlberg portraying a police officer was the protagonist, but looking back the fellow spectator may be correct, his presence did not seem to fully add to the scene, although he did a great job of playing his part. Maybe the movie should have been even less of a storytelling and more of a documentary type of feel.

Overall, I think this movie is a must-see even though it will be painful for most, it shows the power behind the pride in one city in an immense time of need, it shows that Boston is really Boston Strong.