13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

13 Hours is the best film Michael Bay has ever made, and that is not a controversial take among people who have actually watched it. Stripped of his usual excess and forced to work within the real events of the 2012 Benghazi attack, Bay delivers a taut, suspenseful siege film about six private military contractors defending an American compound against overwhelming force. John Krasinski’s physical transformation is startling, and Bay’s talent for staging large-scale action finally serves a story that matters. The nighttime firefight sequences, lit by tracer rounds and mortar flashes, are the most visually striking combat scenes Bay has ever directed.