YMMV / Eye in the Sky

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Would the characters have worried so much about releasing the missile if it had been a boy instead of a girl? Or if the civilian had been an adult?
• Award Snub:
  • People proposed Alan Rickman getting a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his final performance - especially since he never received any Oscar nominations in his career. Ultimately he wasn't nominated.
  • Helen Mirren also turned in one of the more intense performances of her career in recent years, and yet went completely ignored on the awards circuit.
• Complete Monster: Susan Helen Danford (aka Ayesha Al-Hady), Abdullah Al-Hady, and Rasheed Hamud are three leaders of Al-Shabaab responsible for recruiting and trafficking young Muslims, brainwashing them into committing attacks throughout Kenya leading to hundreds of deaths. They would also murder a British spy trying to stop them before enacting their plan to have two brainwashed teenagers become suicide bombers, ordering them to attack highly-populated areas to kill dozens of people.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Surprisingly, even with Alan Rickman, Helen Mirren, and Aaron Paul in the cast, it's Barkhad Abdi who emerged as many viewers' favorite character, most likely because he's a badass secret agent who comes closer than anyone to saving Alia's life while risking his own in the process.
• Iron Woobie: Pretty much every single one of the main characters. It's clear they hate being put in this position, but still do what they're supposed to do.
• Just Here for Godzilla: A rather poignant example, as this was one of Alan Rickman's last performances before he passed away and some have seen the movie to say goodbye to the beloved actor.
• Magnificent Bitch: Colonel Katherine Powell is a UK military intelligence officer in charge of a sting operation to capture three leaders of Al-Shabaab in Kenya. Spying on these leaders, Powell discovers their plot to have two suicide bombers kill 80 or more people. Powell persuades both the US and UK governments to let her order a drone strike to kill them, justifying that whatever innocent casualties and collateral damage that may occur will be worth it to prevent such an devastating attack, even when the drone strike ends up killing a child.
• Nightmare Fuel: Just the idea that none of the people on the ground are aware that there is a drone in the sky, watching their every move, and with one push of the button, a missile could strike and kill you, and you wouldn't even see it coming. Go ahead, look up!
• Paranoia Fuel: The fact that Alia is completely unaware of the situation she's in is actually quite terrifying.
• Tear Jerker: Alia's death. It's implied that her death will also lead her father to take up arms, in spite of his previous peaceful demeanor.
• The Scrappy:
  • About midway through the film it's possible for the viewer to flip to hating Alia for repeatedly causing the drone strike to delay. To the film's credit, hating her does nothing to remove the entertainment value of the central conflict. Not to mention she was reselling breads that have been dropped on the ground, five-second rule or not.
  • Angela Northman is very disliked too, as she's the one who first opposes firing on Danvard until they get clearance (and the delay is what leads to Alia selling bread in the first place). After Alia is killed, she also takes the time to lecture everyone else (who clearly are not feeling great).
• Squick: The Foreign Secretary gets an attack of diarrhea while everything is going on. Nothing is shown but he's literally just out of the toilet when he gets contacted via the phone.
• Trapped by Mountain Lions: Minor example. But when the US Secretary of State is authorizing the strike, there are a couple of close-ups of his assistant looking shocked and annoyed. A lot of attention is given to her reaction, implying she's going to enter the plot in some way. But she's not seen again after this.

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