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A soldier finds himself in the toughest battle of his career as he faces the choice of keeping a promise to his family to retire and finding closure for the death of his daughter.
Based on actual events, The Dark Side is a film about a soldier’s life altering decision. Chris Russo, a battle-hardened Army Ranger diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is just a few days from retiring when he is told that his daughter Celine was killed in an attack on her chow hall four days before Christmas. Chris now faces the decision to retire or deploy to find closure. When he chooses to deploy, his wife Amy gives him an ultimatum, “If you choose to deploy, I may not be here when you get back.” After returning to Iraq, he learns that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi gave the order for the attack. During the pursuit of Zarqawi, Chris becomes separated from his team that results in two brushes with death, which forces him to re-evaluate his decision. When he returns home, he discovers his wife has kept to her word. With mounting concerns of the apparent end of his marriage and the death of his daughter, the ugly face of his PTSD once again surfaces which sends him in a psychological downward spiral.