[marron]Abstract[/marron]

The film Unthinkable functions as a pretext to present international legislation that prohibits the use of torture as well as the specific laws enacted after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the twin towers. Furthermore, this article presents the complex relationship between the law, necessity and state of emergency, relationship that determines the conditions for the exceptions to the laws that prohibit the use of torture. The international legislation presented allows for a better understanding of the motives that make the discourses of different characters in the film more or less strong. By analyzing these discourses, this article attempts to study the heroic model presented in the movie and its possible function in the “war on terror” unleashed by the Bush administration. Finally, this paper analyzes the specific conditions that led the American Psychological Association to dictate a document that not only allows, but also supports, the participation of psychologists in the interrogation of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib.