Just came back from watching United 93, the dramatised account of the only one of the four planes hijacked on September 11, 2001 that did not reach its target.

It’s an incredibly powerful film playing out in near real time, with a documentary you-are-really-there style. Everything is understated and incredibly real, eschewing the usual Hollywood action clichés we usually expect from disaster or movie-of-the-week treatments of headline stories.

The first half is very interesting – for me, it was appealing more to my intellect than my emotions. It was fascinating watching how the air-traffic controllers (both civilian and military) reacted to the ongoing crisis, and to see how slowly the realisation of the situation came.

Once the hijackers actually take over the flight, the tone changes – or rather, it doesn’t, which is much the point. The only difference is now we’re in the middle of the chaos instead of watching it on an air traffic control monitor. Watching these very real people dealing with this terrifying situation, and seeing how they coped, is incredibly moving and sad, as you know what the final outcome is going to be, no matter how brave or determined the passengers are.

I can’t say this is a movie you should go to for a fun night out at the pictures, but I would urge everyone to go and see it, if for no other reason than to get a better understanding of the events of that terrible day.