More still meditate on social injustice.

Yet something chips away at Egans psyche.

The thrill of combat is missing.

In their place is a cloying sense of guilt over the collateral damage his job creates.

It creates a kind of schizophrenia and depression.

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All the while, Niccol shoots the film like a sci-fi thriller.

Sadly, we couldnt find time to squeeze in a question about the incredibleGattaca… Yeah, its a period piece!

Theres a lot of convincing detail in the film.

Was your approach to research quite journalistic?

In a strange way it was.

Here, my philosophy was, No design.

No design at all.

If it doesnt look the way it looks for real, we dont use it.

If it doesnt, I dont want to know.

That must have been an interesting challenge, to compose these interesting shots.

I carried that motif through to Vegas.

I used that same aerial angle, which, as I say, became a motif through the film.

They both live in the desert, for one thing.

That was the interesting thing, too the desert.

It was an interesting thing, the two different deserts.

Its funny you should say that.

Then I saw an article that said, The drone program was moreTruman ShowthanTerminator.

I went, Oh!

Thats why Im doing it.

Because there is, of course, that element of living vicariously through the people youre watching.

But hes still a bad guy, still a terrorist, trying to harm US troops.

They hope the wife and kids arent at home, but sometimes they are.

They still have to go ahead with it.

Its a kind of warfare weve never had before.

Its almost a technologicalRear Window,this film.

It is, yeah.

It also feels like a companion piece toLord Of War.I wondered if you thought of it that way?

It is in a way.

Because its sort of the untold story of the war.

That was always the underbelly of that war, is that character.

So yeah, it is interesting.

What was the process of getting this financed like, because its a current topic.

It isnt necessarily something people would be rushing to support.

[Laughs] In other words, not US dollars.

But maybe people arent quite ready to look in the mirror yet.

It feels like something thats coming out in stories in some ways.

Because [drones] have appeared in a weird sort of way in mainstream films likeFast & Furious 7.

[Laughs] Right.

Even something likeCaptain America 2has drones surgically removing enemies of the state.

Its clearly something thats playing on our popular consciousness.

But they take it to a heightened place.

And this is very much down to earth, very much here and now.

And its been going on for a while.

So its not a fantasy.

What does it do to their psyche, to do what theyre doing?

Can you tell me anything about what youre planning to make next?

[Chuckles] But Im juggling a few things.

Andrew Niccol, thank you very much.

Good Killis in theaters May 15.