Though inspired by former Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi's assassination, first-time director Santosh Sivan's The Terrorist deliberately sidesteps political issues in its tense examination of a 19-year-old woman chosen to kill an enemy VIP (and herself) for "the movement." In Sivan's view, what that movement actually stands for is not really important (and never mentioned), as other more personal issues—violence, family history, a contrived second-act pregnancy—cast doubt on her willingness to carry out the assignment. This is a crucial mistake on his part. As made clear in 1966's The Battle Of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo's seminal study of terrorism in the French-Algerian War, politics is the only issue worth consideration. The methods used to win a conflict—in this case, the terrorist tactics employed by Algerian guerrillas are countered by methodical torture from the French military—are morally irrelevant. Sivan stacks the deck from the horrific opening scene, which finds its protagonist, striking newcomer Ayesha Dharkar, burning a traitor alive as he's tied to a tree. A hardened killer from a young age, she auditions for the honor of being "a thinking bomb" for the underground revolutionaries and wins the position due to her fierce devotion to the cause. As her suicide mission draws closer, Dharkar reflects on the violence she's inherited from the past and begins to reconsider her options, especially after she's impregnated by a fellow soldier. The Terrorist marches purposefully to the moment of truth, but much of the tension is lost because Sivan makes her decision too easy. It's understood what she stands to lose if she goes through with the assassination (her conscience, her baby, and her life), but what will her failure to do so mean to her compatriots or the future of the insurgency? In order to take a firm stand against terrorism, Sivan shirks some essential, troubling questions.