‘Occupation’ captures inner battles of war

We first encounter the three soldiers, all from Manchester, during the invasion of Basra in 2003. The most conventionally heroic one is Mike (James Nesbitt), a married father of two who, early in “Occupation,’’ is trying to get medical care for a wounded Iraqi child. At the hospital, which is overrun with bleeding civilians, he encounters and soon falls in love with an Iraqi doctor, Aliya (Lubna Azabal). They share a powerful, almost tacit bond, built as a shield against the despair and destruction around them. It’s the kind of connection Mike could never share with his wife.

His attraction to Aliya will bring Mike back to Iraq after his first tour. Indeed, all three of the central characters return to the Iraqi war zones, to pursue the transformative experiences they began in 2003. Danny (Stephen Graham) is the most unmoored of the three, and he becomes drawn to the chaos and aggression of battle. He evolves from a happy-go-lucky sort into a bit of a monster. After serving, he returns to Basra to form a private company and take advantage of the American dollars going toward reconstruction in Iraq. He becomes a kind of Kurtz figure from “Heart of Darkness,’’ as he and his fellow contractors operate by their own rules and morality. Like a two-bit gang lord, Danny drinks and snorts cocaine and finagles private riches.

Lee (Warren Brown) is the shaky one, perhaps because he feels a deep sense of guilt about the impact of war on the Iraqis. He has scruples, and they plague him. At home in Manchester with his parents and peacenik sister, he clings to his anger; and in Basra, where he returns to make moral reparations, he clings to his decency. His experiences in Iraq become increasingly intertwined with those of Mike and Danny, as the movie moves across the decade.