Operation Avalanche 2016

The film begins with the iconic speech of John F. Kennedy proclaiming, “We choose to go to the Moon.”

Set in 1967, a group of ambitious CIA operatives—Matt Johnson, Owen Williams, Andy Apelle, and Jared Raab—persuade their superiors to allow them to disguise themselves as a documentary crew filming the Apollo 11 mission. Their true mission is to uncover a Soviet mole within NASA.

While eavesdropping on James Webb, the NASA administrator, they stumble upon shocking information: the lander meant for the Moon landing is actually incapable of making it there, and this critical detail is being kept under wraps. When they approach their superior, Brackett, with this urgent news, they are met with instructions to exit NASA. However, they choose to stay and dig deeper.

Determined to hide the lander’s shortcomings and thwart the Russians in the ongoing Space Race, the team launches “Operation Avalanche.” Through this operation, they begin to fabricate aspects of the Moon landing, and Brackett lends his approval, even assigning agent Josh Boles to monitor them closely.

During an analysis of footage from a NASA pool party, Jared notices suspicious individuals filming them. Intrigued by the production of Stanley Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, the crew travels to England to covertly film the set, seeking inspiration for their own endeavor. There, they learn about front screen projection, a technique that will enhance the authenticity of their fabricated Moon landing footage. They develop a strategy to simulate radio signals from the lander, complete with a scripted broadcast of the fake landing.

As chaos unfolds, Matt grows increasingly anxious when he discovers the CIA’s unsettling plan: if their charade fails, the agency intends to shoot down the real Apollo 11 lander, framing the Soviets for the incident. Desperate, Matt begins burying the finished footage in a field as a contingency plan.

During one of their shoots, Owen spots two men observing them. Upon confronting these individuals, they quickly flee. Boles announces they have identified the mole, but suspicion lingers that he may not be connected to the men following them. Analyzing archival footage with the purported mole, Owen deduces that he was indeed the other person speaking with Webb, suggesting a conspiracy involving the mole, Boles, and the mysterious watchers, all potentially working for the CIA. Following the unexpected death of the “mole,” Owen fears that the CIA plans to eliminate them to tie up loose ends.

After completing Avalanche, Matt shares a copy with Boles while discreetly destroying another version containing evidence of their deception. The launch of their faked Moon landing proceeds flawlessly, and Matt sets fire to the props used in the project. However, they soon discover their motel room ransacked and men combing the area. Just as they retrieve Matt’s copy of the film, they are ambushed by armed attackers in a vehicle, leading to a harrowing escape.

In a tragic twist, Matt finds Owen hanged in his garage. He entrusts the film canisters to Andrew, urging him to hide them away for safety. In a tense moment, Matt contacts Brackett via a payphone, proposing a deal: he will reveal his location in exchange for information on the agents the CIA is set to eliminate. When Brackett tries to sweeten the deal by offering Matt leadership over a new department, Matt refuses, disheartened.

As America celebrates the Apollo 11 landing on television, Matt watches the historic moment unfold with a mixture of pride and despair. In a poignant finale, he gazes into the camera just as Creedence Clearwater Revival’s haunting anthem, Fortunate Son, plays, symbolizing the weight of their monumental yet deceptive victory.