Ostensibly a critique of imperialism, The East inadvertently commits the same sins as the old empire once did, as Indonesian characters are no more than window dressing.

The East is an unrelenting condemnation of the Netherlands' misguided attempt to return its colonial outreach to a time long gone while hitting most (if not all) of the "doomed war" niche genre movie tropes without ever actually teetering into cliche.

The East features more indulgence than criticism of the chauvinistic mentality that leads men to think that they can use others as a mirror for their own problems.

"The East" doesn't do much different when telling the story of the Indonesian War of Independence, but it does bring a new subject matter to viewers' attention that continues to show the painful side of war.