Imperium (DVD)

Imperium

"Words build bridges into unexplored regions."

INSPIRED BY REAL EVENTS

We open up in Washington D.C. A large white van is shown driving around the city. It parks at a building and we see three men prep and arm a bomb in the backseat. One of the men, Usman (Roger Yawson) looks around at the people that are near the building and hesitates, understanding the consequences. He sighs, and then enters a car and leaves the site.

In a parking garage nearby, three FBI agents listen to the conversation between the three terrorists. It turns out to be a sting operation. As the agent in charge tells the other two to get ready, FBI Agent Nate Foster (Daniel Radcliffe) tries to take his gun out, but is rebuffed by another agent believing that Foster would accidentally shoot him than the bad guys. When Nate protests, the lead agent tells Nate to be quiet and follow their lead.

The three bad guys park in the garage where the FBI agents are nearby. The leader asks Usman if his heart is clear, and the man shakes his head yes. The three gets outside the car and the leader hands Usman a phone with a phrase to dial in so the bomb can be set off. He dials it in but nothing happens. Suddenly, the two other men pull guns on him. Nate and the other FBI agents swarm him as Usman is handcuffed. It turns out he was the one they were really after.

They bring Usman back to interrogation and get nowhere until Nate volunteers to go in and talk to him. Angela Zampano (Toni Collette) enters the room where they are watching the interrogation and is angry they are using the place when she requested the room; she is told they just broke up a terrorist attack. In the room with Usman, Nate learns that Usman's village was attacked after being falsely accused of hiding terrorists there. Usman's parents brought him over for a better life but he felt dissatisfied that his family lived well while the rest of their family was slaughtered under false pretenses.

Nate then questions Usman about his wanting to blow up a building. Usman said the man who e-mailed him asked if he wanted to wage jihad so he said yes. He rented a storage unit, and got a few simple electronic items at the man's request, and when he arrived at the storage unit that day, the van and the bomb were waiting for him. Usman breaks down, obviously over his head and did not understand the full scope of what he signed up for. Nate talks to his superiors, noting that he was told that they would only move forward if they had concrete evidence on Usman. The superiors tell them they had hours of him talking about waging jihad. Nate says that talking about doing something and actually doing something are two different things; the point being they may have caused an entrapment situation (i.e. if there was no bomb ready for Usman, he wouldn't have attempted to use it). Nate sees Usman as little more than a scared, angry young boy. Zampano, who listens to Nate's reasoning, laughs out loud, obviously humored by Nate's empathetic stance and his Boy Scout behavior.

Nate goes to a wine store and buys a bottle. The clerk says he must obviously be seeing someone, and Nate says yes. In reality, Nate is in his apartment alone, eating a nice meal while listening to classical music and reading a book.

Nate is at work, listening to classical music while writing a report when an agent throws a ball at him, telling him of an emergency meeting. Nate looks at them furious, knowing that they don't respect him due to his youth.

At the meeting, Nate and the other agents learn that a chemical truck that crashed on the highway was illegally carrying Cesium 137, a radiation treatment chemical. The order was tracked back to North Africa and six of the eight canisters are missing. Given the origin of the material, the agents in charge believe it to be another Muslim based terrorist attack. However, Zampano raises her hand and asks what their opinion is on it being a domestic terrorist attack. The agent who is briefing the others says the evidence points otherwise. Zampano counters that the last potential attack of this type was James Cummings, a white supremacist from Maine, who had intended to detonate a chemical bomb at President Obama's 2009 inauguration. The agent briefing the room says Zampano or anyone else can follow up any leads they find promising.

Later, Zampano grabs Nate and takes him down to her office. She asks him about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and Timothy McVeigh. Nate, being 5-year-old at the time, doesn't know much about it, and tries to give her some generalized answers. Zampano calls him on his BS and hands him a book about McVeigh and gives him a summary; McVeigh was a decorated Gulf War Veteran, intelligent yet not insane, and a white supremacist following a plan. McVeigh was reenacting a scene from The Turner Diaries, in which the hero drives a truck bomb into a federal building in order to start a Race War.

Nate asks why Zampano is telling him this. Zampano says she understands Nate's specialty is Islamic terrorism and that is what most of his bosses think is going to happen. However, she tells him that just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it isn't happening. She plays him a recording of ultra right wing radio personality Dallas Wolf (Tracy Letts) who speaks of a coming Race War and how the FBI is covering up the theft of dangerous chemicals from a truck crash, information Wolf shouldn't know about.

At a bar, Zampano tells Nate more about Wolf, and how the leader of a local Neo-Nazi group is friendly with him. Zampano needs someone to go undercover, get close to the leader, and thus get close to Wolf and find out if they have the Cesium and what they plan to do with it. She thinks the best candidate is Nate. Nate balks, saying he does not have the training to do undercover work. Zampano says he actually has the perfect training for the job and runs down his history; High IQ, great people skills, yet is introverted and a loner, brought upon a lifestyle of constant moving with his single mother. Nate is worried about physically defending himself, but Zampano says he has the psychological tools to never be put in that situation. Nate once again tries to decline, but Zampano says "they don't have time for his hesitation because when people get chemicals like the ones that were stolen, they don't sit on them, they use them against people."

At home, Nate drinks heavily, and looks at pictures and articles related to the use of chemical weapons. He is overwhelmed by the hatred. Nate and Zampano go to his superior about an undercover operation, only for his boss to berate and insult him, explicitly telling him the dangers of undercover work and how it can kill your career momentum. His boss tells Nate he can do whatever he wants, but he better be damn sure about it, lest he wants to embarrass himself or get killed. Zampano speaks to Nate, telling him The Turner diaries has sold half a million copies and all that have bought are white supremacists, many of whom that have attempted or successfully pulled off terrorist attacks on the U.S.

Nate is at home, looking at the mirror. He takes off his glasses and then proceeds to shave his head. He goes over his identity with Zampano: Nate Thomas, former marine in Iraq who worked on a WMD squad. During the time of deployment, he became disillusioned and began to question what is really going on with his country. We see Nate get an apartment, hiding his undercover materials in the sofa. He buys a truck and begins to read Mein Kamp in order to fully get into the mindset of a skinhead. He orders a bunch more books on white nationalism online and begins to dig into them all, though he has to stop at times, overwhelmed by the hatred on the pages that clash with the idealism and good character inside him.

As he continues to talk over his cover story with Zampano, he shows her a fake record of his service as Nate Thomas in case anyone questions him. Zampano immediately tears it up and says if he is at the point he has to show paperwork to prove himself, hes already dead. Zampano explains that hate groups have begun using lone wolf attacks as a tactic called Leaderless resistance. The top guys inspire the ones below them to do the attacks, allowing their intentions to be done while still allowing their hands to technically stay clean. Zampano asks what Nate offers to the supremacists, to which Nate replies his loyalty. Zampano says anyone can be loyal, but he has to be more than that. He has to give them something that no one else can offer. To that, Nate sets up a fake medical supply store, which specializes in buying, handling, and storing radioactive material like Cesium, which will be useful to the Neo-Nazis if they stole the material.

Zampano briefs Nate on a CI, Frank Hedges (Adam Meier) which will get Nate an introduction to the gang's leader Vince Sargent (Pawel Szajda) who knows Dallas Wolf well. Nate will join into the group, get to know them, get close to Vince, and thus get close to Dallas Wolf. Frank and Nate head to a diner where Vince and the others are waiting. After being searched for weapons and wires, Nate sits down and begins narrating his cover story as a former Marine. Little by little, Nate charms Vince, who says they need some work on their security. Nate points out that their head of security, Roy (Seth Numrich) picked a booth farthest away from all exits so if things went down, they would be screwed. Nate says that his time in Iraq helped him notice things like that, including that Roy and one other man had weapons but the others did not. Roy asks why Nate is wearing Levi jeans (since the name has Jewish connotation). Nate replies his brother gave them to him as a gift when he returned from Iraq, and while his brother may not share Nate's view, they were a gift and he would not insult his brother by not wearing them. Nate then points out boycotts are useless as the Jews head and control Fortune 500 companies, and thus most if not all products we buy. Vince smiles and shakes his head, saying Nate is right, wondering aloud if the diner is owned by the Jews as well.

Later that night, Nate and the others go to a skinhead bar. Vince asks about Nate's medical supply company and Nate says they can talk about that whenever he wants too. Later, Nate speaks with Johnny (Devin Druid) a young recruit to the gang. Johnny relates a story about how in high school, he saw a friend of his get beaten up badly by six black students. When he came in and saw it happen, they just looked at him and he walked away. Nate immediately realizes Johnny joined for a sense of power and belonging, and the shame of his previous cowardice. Nate tries to tell him that he had problems too growing up but he can channel them for something positive, obviously trying to push the kid out of the group before it is too late. Roy comes in to find them and tells them they need to get drunk and pushes Johnny to the bar to get more beers. As Nate goes to leave too, Roy, the only one that has doubts about him, stops him.

"Nate. You know what man? Everyone seems to fucking like you," Roy states ominously.

"Yeah", Nate replies with a nod and walks away.

At his apartment, Nate downloads the audio of everything that happened on the day and begins to transcribe them. As he does so, flashes of white supremacist meetings, rallies, and attacks are shown, apparently flashing through his mind as he types everything down.

The next morning, Nate is awakened by loud knocks at his door. He hastily hides his laptop underneath the sofa cushions and goes to the door. Roy and Johnny are there, and Roy makes it clear that the group knows where Nate lives. Nate is forced to invite them in. As Roy looks around, Nate asks why they are here. Nate is told Vince is outside, and they have a surprise for him. Nate says he is ready and wants to leave, when Roy notices a strap that is protruding from the couch, next to where Nate hid the laptop. Roy pulls at it till it comes free. Roy says he has some busted up furniture and the three of them leave.

In the next scene, Nate is forced to get a tattoo by the guys.

Nate is debriefed by Zampano, who is angry he didn't finish his transcript. "Look at my fucking arm", Nate snaps, relaying the reason why he couldn't finish. Zampano asks why he is being antagonistic with Roy; to make him look small could make an enemy. Zamapano tells him she is only being hard on him to protect him. She needs him to get to Dallas Wolf, and to do so Nate needs to start relating to the guys he is with; to see them as human beings.

Nate and the gang head to a family barbeque headed by Gerry Conway (Sam Trammell). Nate meets Gerry's wife Becky (Vanessa Ore) and is offered cupcakes with Swatiska icing on top. Nate is ushered into the living room, where he learns via an online broadcast that Dallas Wolf will be holding a rally in D.C., and that several groups will plan to protest him and his followers. He meets Andrew Blackwell (Chris Sullivan), from the Aryan alliance, and Ernest Walton (David Aranovich) a Grand Dragon in the local Ku Klux Klan. Both try to recruit Nate into their respective groups, though Frank quickly ushers Nate out. Frank explains that Blackwell believes in religious overtones in regards to his ideology and finds it stupid. Frank says Nate needs to know who to stick with.

In the backyard, Roy complains about there being no alcohol at the barbeque, but Franks says it is only for two hours, and they will behave themselves as guests. Nate is introduced to Gerry, who unlike them has the appearance of a low key, suburban dad. He meets Gerry's kids Madeline and Tim who show Nate their tree house.

"It's to protect us", Madeline says.

"Yeah, from what?" Nate asks.

"If the mud people come", Tim replies.

"Always be ready, always be watchful, and stick together", Madeline says.

Nate has a look cross over his face, briefly, realizing that Gerry is slowly poisoning his kids' minds. Gerry playfully chases his kids away and speaks to Nate. He tells him about the tree house, and how it was a way to spend time with his children as 90% of all time spent with your kids happens before age 12. Gerry tells Nate he seems quite mature for being a skinhead, and notes he has these barbeques to have nice, safe meetings for members of the movement. Gerry sees Roy and Johnny begin arguing heavily and tells them to calm down because there are children present. Gerry says he wishes guys like Roy and Johnny would shape up as their vices and languages corrupt them as good Aryan men. Nate asks why he even bothered to invite them then. Gerry says they are the next generation and they need their help in order to know their heritage, their history and be proud of it. "Isn't that what its all about, the children? What kind of world will they grow up in?" Gerry asks as they both look at Gerry's kids.

Afterward, Roy, Nate, and Johnny go buy liquor, with Roy commenting how awful the barbeque was. As he takes a sip, he spits it out over its low quality and tells Johnny that will be the last time he lets him select the booze. Suddenly, Roy starts losing his mind, pointing to something. Roy points out a white woman with a man of Latin descent, looking at baby beds in a shop window. Roy gets angry, wanting to teach them a lesson, but Nate tries to stop him, grabbing his arm. Roy tells him to never touch him again. Realizing things will get bad quick Nate jumps in front of Roy and starts verbally assaulting the couple, with Roy and Johnny near him, holding knives. Thinking quick, Nate breaks a window of the shop, setting off an alarm, allowing the couple to get away.

In the car, Roy is livid with Nate, asking if he actually wanted to let the couple get away. Nate, having enough and needing to not only convince a doubter but also keep his cover, stops the truck in the middle of the street and lays into Roy:

"Okay, you're goddamn right I wanted them to get away! You wanna be a soldier Roy, and not a fucking thug, then think. You think about security cameras Roy? You think about the liquor store we were just in? You think about the clerk or the license plates on my fucking truck! You think about any of that shit? Fucking Aryan warrior. A hundred shits and niggers ain't worth the life of one white man but go ahead put us all in prison. That's how you're gonna win your race war, huh?"

Roy, though still angry, is convinced enough and tells Nate to keep driving. Nate drives off.

Nate meets with Zampano again. After running the plates of the cars at the barbeque, Zampano found no criminal records on most of the people including Gerry, an engineer. However, most are tapped into society in profession such as lawyers, professors, and firefighters. Zampano notes Andrew Blackwell is based out of Ohio, and thus wouldn't travel to D.C. just to attend a rally. Nate concludes he must be connected to Dallas Wolf. Zampano orders him to figure out the link.

At a Dallas Wolf Unity Conference Vince and Nate walk around and tour the various hate groups and organizations. Nate can barely hide his disgust at the veil hatred around him. Everyone then sits down and watches a short film about the beauty and necessity of maintaining a fully white race, and how they can become superior to all the inferior races. Afterwards, Dallas Wolf gives a vitriolic speech about the end of the white race.

As the various groups argue about placement in the protest rally march, Nate sees Dallas Wolf alone and asks Vince for an introduction. Vince introduces Nate to Wolf but Wolf is curt with them, saying that he has to get ready for the rally. When Vince leaves to talk to his buddies, Nate speaks to Wolf again, saying he has friends who may be able to provide advertisement money so Wolf's show can go nationwide. Wolf is happy to hear that and gives Nate his card so they can talk later.

At the rally, Nate walks with Dallas Wolf, the rest of his gang, along with numerous other hate groups while many people protest the march. However, trouble looms when Nate is recognized by a friend, who happens to be black. Roy is getting livid with the crowd and wants to fight them. Johnny goes up to help, but Nate tells him to stay back. Blackwell tells people to not engage the crowd. However, the barriers soon fall and a riot happens, with the protestors fighting the Neo-Nazis. Nate sees Johnny get arrested as several of the protestors attack the groups. Nate, seeing Andrew on the ground and bloodied, grabs him up and puts him in his truck to escape, knowing that staying longer could break his cover. As they try to leave though, they hit traffic just as protestors find them and attack the truck. Nate eventually has to back up and go around, barely holding on control to the road.

Later, he takes refuge in Gerry's home. Becky brings him food, and Gerry puts on some classical music by Brahms. Andrew comes into the living room and starts spouting that they will kill the protestors that attacked them. Gerry calms him down. Later they have dinner. Andrew gets a call about his ride, and invites Nate to his compound in Virginia at some point.

Gerry and Nate listen to classical music and talk. Nate asks how Gerry got into the movement. Gerry explains he read a lot of the literature. His parents were liberal but he always felt something was off and he had a lot of anger he couldn't place until he read some books, a few of which he lets Nate borrow. Nate asks if was just the books. Gerry notes he also had some theories of his own, plus an engineering contract in Kenya when he was younger opened his eyes to how people there don't even live like animals, they live worse.

Nate asks Zampano how one can get through and reason with people like Gerry. Zampano reminds him of his true mission, but Nate counters she told him to try and relate to them and open up. Zampano asks if he wants to get a drink. Nate asks where they can get a drink safely. They wind up in a parking lot where Zampano tells him about her undercover work and how she quit so she could have a family and live a normal life. She tells Nate the case won't last forever. "You can't change the way people think, but you are making a difference", she says.

Nate meets Andrew at his compound. Andrew notes they will be expanding as soon as they buy nearby land. Nate sees their firing range and notes they need to be mindful of gun safety so no one gets shot by accident. Nate sees a storage area, with cots. Andrew says it will eventually be able to house 200 people, which they will need soon enough.

Andrew tries to recruit Nate, as he has military training with a clean record. Nate says he is flattered, but needs to see more, as most of the people in the movement seem to be all talk, no action. Andrew understands, and shows him plans for the water system of D.C., apparently with plans to poison/sabotage the entire system. He tells Nate that his buddies are small thinkers, punks. If he wants real action, he should join the Aryan Alliance.

Nate meets Dallas Wolf at his mother's house. He gives him the cover story about his medical supply business and mentions the radioactive material subset of his business which Wolf says is good to know. Nate also mentions his investors, and Wolf gives him a packet about how he is trying to raise money so he can expand into Florida airwaves. Nate tells Wolf that his investor needs to know that Wolf is serious. Wolf tells Nate that he has been willing to die for the cause for over 20 years, so he is the man the investor wants, a man of action.

Nate takes a conference call with Zampano and his superior, trying to okay the $7,500 needed to keep Wolf on the line. The superior, already on another 40-man investigation, does not see the evidence to justify that type of expenditure, which pisses Nate off.

Nate is back at Andrew's compound, going over the weapons with his men. He notices that several guns have not been maintained properly and orders a complete inventory overhaul. Going to report to Andrew, he finds Vince and Roy arguing with him. The two are less than please to see Nate with Andrew, feeling that he has abandoned them. Roy and Vince are escorted out, telling Nate they will see them soon. Andrew explains Roy is paranoid, thinking cops are following him. Nate says given Roy's temperament it is surprising he isn't in prison already. Andrew wants to scout a location for a youth event.

In the car, Andrew talks about infiltrators, and how to deal with them, asking opinions on several options to find them out. Nate gives him reasons on why they won't work and the best way to avoid them. The car ride is tense, and Nate feels he may have been found out. Out at the location, Andrew mentions that Roy looked into his service record and was unable to find a paper trail. Nate, scared for a moment, tells Andrew that the WMD squads were Black Ops thus have no paper trails. He finds it funny that Roy would call up a government that he hates to snoop on him. Nate then explodes on Andrew, saying he understands Andrew must do his due diligence but accusing him is a very serious thing to do. Andrew yells at him to calm down, convinced of his trustworthiness.

Nate talks to Zampano, afraid that Andrew was not convinced and may call Wolf and blow the whole thing. We see Nate is at the bank. Afraid the whole operation will be for nothing, and that the agency is unwilling to give up the funds, Nate withdraws 7500 from his own account to pay off Wolf. However, when he presses for more details, he finds that Wolf is more concerned with expanding his show, talking about the coming Race War than actually taking steps to help cause it. When Nate says his investor cannot support Wolf without more concrete details, Wolf immediately returns the money, saying sorry it didn't work out. Nate says Andrew showed him plans of D.C. and he needs Wolf to honest with him. Wolf tells him to get out.

Zampano and Nate are called into the office where Wolf has voluntarily arrived to talk. He tells Zampano that a young man named Nate Thomas has come to him with offers of investors to expand his business, yet began asking about terrorist plots, things he does not want to be associated with. When Zampano asks why he lives in an unregistered house, why a Geiger counter goes off there, and how he knew about the truck accident, Wolf has answers for all three. He is living with his mother and wants that to stay private. As to radiation, he is suffering from prostate cancer, and is receiving treatment. As to the truck, a commenter on his podcast brought it to his attention. He then reveals himself to be a fraud; he doesn't believe anything he says on his show. He considers himself an entertainer who does his stuff for money, and willingly tells his sick audience what they want to hear as long as they keep buying it. Wolf then storms out.

Nates superiors rip into him and Zampano for wasting their time on this wild goose chase. Nate and Zampano go to her office and she tells him this happens sometimes. Nate is livid, thinking he wasted his time, and put himself through hell for nothing, while Zampano got a rush of undercover work from the safety of her office. Nate storms off.

Nate goes to pack up his apartment and finds Gerry's books. He goes to his house to return them then is invited in for tea. As they listen to classical music, Nate relates how he feels powerless, that he wants to act, to change the world, but doesn't know how. Gerry then says perhaps he is going the wrong way with things. Perhaps the real way to change is through unknown soldiers, by Leaderless Resistance, which Nate perks up at the mention of. They go outside, and Gerry explains he has contacts still that will help create an event that will hopefully create the world they would want. However, they may not live to see it if it is successful. Nate says he is willing to help anyway because he will at least help create it.

Nate goes back to his truck, shaken. Gerry is the true target all along. He calls Zampano, who talks to his superiors; the operation is back on.

Nate is introduced to Morgan (Burn Gorman) and David (Linc Hand) by Gerry. They then attend a Klan wedding at night, with burning swatiskas and a cross behind them. Afterwards, Gerry and Nate speak to Morgan and David. They require an explosive compound to mix with the Cesium. Nate says he can get some TATP to mix with it. When they discuss handling the Cesium, Nate tells them they need to be super cautious, and get suits to wear lest they inhale any of the particles.

Nate and Zampano mix up some materials to make up fake TATP.

Gerry and Nate meet with Morgan and David to show off the TATP. When Morgan wants to test it, Nate flips out (knowing they will find out it is fake if they do test it) saying the stuff is unstable and even a small amount is dangerous. Gerry is convinced and tells the man not to test it.

The next day, Saturday, Nate gets a call from Zampano, telling him Gerry and the group have gone dark, and that they bought ammonia nitrate. Nate doesn't understand why and tells her he is going to Gerry's despite her telling him not to. When he gets there, Nate is held at gunpoint but is able to talk everyone down. Gerry explains that David found out an electrical crew was setting up shop overnight across the street from his medical supply building. They think it is the police, so if they are on to Nate, they are onto all of them. Since they couldn't use the TATP, David, using his own name, bought ammonia nitrate. The police will know it was them, but they are adamant to finish what they started. Nate says he will help. As he begins prep, he sees the Cesium, and makes up a story about washing up so he doesn't contaminate anything.

When he goes inside, he finds Becky crying, obviously realizing her husband is going on a suicide mission. He goes into the bathroom and calls Zampano, explaining they cannot go in guns blazing. It is a residential area, Gerry's family is in the house, and Gerry and his friends are fanatics who will not be taken alive. Nate's superior will not risk the bomb getting out and tells him he has 60 seconds to bring the men in alive or they are going in.

Back in the garage, Nate pretends to get the suits ready, and looks for something to distract them with. He sees a box of laundry powder and with everyone distracted grabs a handful. He pours it near the Cesium cans and then pretends to kick one over, screaming they weren't secured enough. He gets everyone into their suits, but Gerry looks at the cans and realizes they are all secure, and that Nate is lying. He yells at David and Morgan to keep working and he fights Nate. Around that time, the FBI swarms in and arrests everyone.

Nate returns to the office with a note at his desk about an emergency briefing. He goes to the briefing room, to find the whole office cheering him for his good work.

Later at a diner, Nate tells Zampano he got his transfer papers approved for Houston, Texas. He notes he will miss D.C., and Zampano says they will miss him too. Nate recites a quote, This should have been a noble creature. He hath all the energy which would of made a goodly frame of glorious elements had they been wisely mangled. Zampano asks if he is referring to Gerry. Nate says yes, to all of them in general. Zampano says that is why she picked Nate; his empathy, his ability to understand people that seem unexplainable. By being real with them, Nate became real to the people he had to get close to and ultimately bring down. Zampano explains there is really only one essential ingredient to fascism.

"It's victimhood", Johnny says, talking to a classroom of middle school children, his hair growing back. He explains he blamed the kids who beat up his friend, he blamed himself, and he blamed society for all his problems. He knows now what he thought was wrong, and they don't have to make his mistakes. In the back of the room is Nate, who was apparently able to get through to Johnny and get him out of the skinhead group before he couldn't turn back.

The last scene has Nate and Johnny talking, with Nate telling Johnny hes proud of him for changing his ways.