"A genre-savvy, ethically entangled military thriller." - Eric Hynes, Film Comment

Shockya: Was there anything that surprised you about doing this movie? Did you learn something about the military that you didn’t know before?

Shetty: As I say, I’ve been learning a lot more about that…area. I just the camaraderie is a huge through-line throughout the movie. It’s something that—as I say, I’ve worked with the USO and I’ve gone to the Walter Reeves Hospital in DC and to meet wounded warriors who have come from Iraq…and to meet their families is really humbling to see these people who protect you. I don’t think the everyday person gets it. I mean, we watch stuff on TV, or we support them of course, but we don’t get it. And I think I started to draw from this movie and being around that is that.

These days Gabel is one busy guy who will play Vertigo on The CW's Arrow Oliver's "deadliest adversary to date," mined from the original Green Arrow comic. And if that's not enough Gabel for you, he also plays the conflicted hero of the military thriller Allegiance

Allegiance opened January 4th at the world famous Chinese Theaters in Hollywood! The film also returned to Austin, TX screening for audiences at Galaxy Theaters. Allegiance was an Official Selection of Austin Film Festival, Hollywood Film Festival, and Seattle International Film Festival in 2012.

"Exposing the gears of race and privilege that grind beneath the unit’s easy familiarity, Allegiance sets up a complicated dance of duty, doubt and desperation."

Distributor XLrator received an early version of Allegiance, which centers on a lieutenant in the National Guard who faces the dilemma of one of his soldiers going AWOL as their unit faces deployment to Iraq. "I thought if the movie was half as good as the teaser then I’m in,” said XLrator CEO Barry Gordon. “It’s a thriller but there are no bad guys.” The film debuted at the Seattle International Film Festival earlier this year and Gordon bought the film soon afterward. “I call this the perfect little movie,” said Gordon. “When you look at multiplatform aspect you can see that there are some that just work. It’s a thriller with a military aspect, it’s multicultural, it’s millennial-youth and also appealing to grandparents. So we see that these are the demos that work across platforms.”

Military personnel advised writer/director Michael Connors in making the film, who himself comes from a strong military background. Financing also came from people with close ties to the military. “The soldier is not demonized and the military is not demonized,” said Gordon. “It’s a film where people who know [this world] will say, ‘this shit really happens.’ You know it’s made from a soldiers’ hand.” Allegiance opened via VOD two weeks ago and is “doing well,” noted Gordon. Over the holiday weekend, it will bow theatrically in New York, followed by Austin and Los Angeles the following weekend. Further theatrical expansion depends on performance.

"I was totally invested in Allegiance. I love when a movie creates an inherently dramatic situation and just lets it go. Sometimes plots try too hard. Allegiance just goes where the story takes it. If these sorts of movies can get seen in streaming/download platforms, that’s a great thing for the art of storytelling. "

"Ultimately, Allegiance is not a bombastic, flashy movie, but one of substance and subtleties. Good acting performances elevate it above a rote military drama and instead instill it with a realism that is difficult to achieve. While it may be easy to overlook this movie, it is worth a watch."

CHRISTINA (COLLIDER): What was the boot camp experience like for you?

GABEL: I’ve always had the fantasy of doing a boot camp for a military film, at some point. I’ve always wanted to know what the experience is like, to feel that mounting pressure of going off to war and needing to be so present and physically aware of your body because you ultimately need to fight for your life and for your country. I really wanted to know what that was like, so I was so excited to be a part of the boot camp.

MovieWeb: Was there anything in particular that surprised you about what they have to go through on a daily basis?

Seth Gabel: You have a general sense of things when you watch other war films, the discipline, the structure, and the code of conduct. What was really amazing to experience first-hand, is being in a system where everyone understands the discipline and the conduct, and also how you work around that. You bond with people, and you choose to break rules, from time to time. Or perhaps, like my character does, he'll bend the rules and just do whatever he can to get certain supplies for his unit, not fully thinking through the consequences. It's interesting, the politics that happen, even in the lower ranks of the unit.