Critics Consensus

Forest Whitaker's performance as real-life megalomaniac dictator Idi Amin powers this fictionalized political thriller, a blunt and brutal tale about power and corruption.

Synopsis

During an African medical mission in the 1970s, Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) impresses brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker, in an Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning role) by acting swiftly in a crisis and becomes the dictator's personal physician. Garrigan enjoys the perks of his new position, until he begins to become aware of Amin's inhumanity -- and his own complicity.