Spectral

In the Republic of Moldova, the USA is joining the  conflict known as the "Transnistria War". After a   particularly vicious attack, an American soldier  gets separated from his team and should wait for   backup, but he decides to enter the next building  alone. Wearing his hyperspectral imaging goggles,   he finds a series of bodies in the dark that look  as if they died frozen. Deeper into the building,   the soldier is shocked to find a translucent  humanoid apparition that he can't see if he   takes off his goggles. Everything he sees is being  transmitted to the base, but before the soldier   can ask for information, the specter goes through  him and instantly kills him. Meanwhile in the USA,   Mark, a doctor working for DARPA, is gathering  pieces to finish his latest invention: a machine   capable of shattering materials with just waves.  Now it's finally finished and Mark does a special   demonstration for the higher-ups, who immediately  ask him to start testing it on humans for possible   uses as a weapon. Mark doesn't like the idea of  using science to hurt people, but his boss reminds   him they work for the government and that's how  things are. Speaking of the government, orders   came from the army asking Mark to fly to Moldova  to check on some trouble they're having with the   goggles he invented. Sometime later, Mark arrives  at the American base in Chișinău and meets General   Orland and CIA officer Fran. Orland shows Mark the  recording of the specter that the goggles caught   before the soldier died. Mark's keen eyes notice  something on the screen right before the specter   appears, and Orland explains their security  cameras have been sensing these things many times   in the last three weeks. At first they thought  it was interference, but then their best soldier   died, so obviously there's something else going  on. When they did the autopsy, they discovered the   internal organs were frozen and yet their skin was  burned and corroded. In the last few weeks they've   been finding more bodies that died in the same  way, and their allied Moldovan military contact   knows nothing about it. Teenagers have been  spray-painting "genocide aratare" at kill sites,   the aratare being a local myth that refers to "the  ghosts of war". The CIA thinks it's some kind of   cloaking technology, but that doesn't explain  the soldier's death. Mark wants a better look   at these specters before coming up with a theory  and reveals he's brought a hyperspectral camera,   which is a more powerful version of the goggles  and sees deeper into the spectrum of light. Orland   accepts to send Mark with a team of Delta Force  operators into the field that will be looking   for another team that disappeared the day before.  Mark begins working on installing the camera on   top of a military truck, prompting the soldiers to  tease him for messing with their weapons. Captain   Cabrera, an old friend of Mark, immediately scolds  the team and reminds them it was Mark's people   that made these trucks in the first place.  Major Sessions isn't amused by the idea of   taking a civilian with them and makes Mark swear  this time his machines will protect them better.   Sometime later, the group gets together to see the  details of the mission: the other team disappeared   in a five-story apartment building and they lost  contact with them yesterday. They'll be entering   an insurgent-held area, so they need to be ready  to fight. If they come across the anomalies,   they must be neutralized, but the priority is  saving the survivors and getting out. Fran tells   them that the anomalies are most likely to be  soldiers in advanced electronic camouflage and   doesn't allow Mark to correct her, she's also  coming to the mission. Mark's duty is to stay   in the truck and monitor the soldiers' helmet-cam  feeds. The team makes it to the building without   issues, and while the first few rooms are  empty, making it deeper inside allows them   to find both soldiers and insurgents, all  dead from the same strange circumstances.   Cabrera detects some movement on the sensors  and the soldiers approach a turned tub, moving   it aside to discover Sergeant Comstock hiding  under it. Comstock explains the rest of his team   are all dead and they can find the bodies on the  next floor; he's also afraid of something he saw,   swearing it's supernatural. The soldiers move  to the next floor and in one of the rooms,   they find one of those specters. A soldier  opens fire on it, not missing a single shot,   but the specter doesn't get hurt and walks through  the man, instantly killing him. Then the specter   leaves the room and attacks the rest of the  team, who also shoot at it in vain and begin   dying one by one. Mark wants them to come back,  and when Fran refuses because they don't have   enough information yet, Mark points out they won't  get anything at this point anyway. The soldiers   are starting to rely on grenades to attack, and  Cabrera orders them to come back. The survivors   drag anyone that may be hurt and use wires to  climb out of a window, but the specter follows   them there and continues to kill anyone it can  reach. In the end, only a few soldiers make   it back to the truck, and the specter is still  following them, so Mark gets the chance to use   the hyperspectral camera to record as much as he  can. The specter seems to have a humanoid shape,   in fact, it has a full human face as well, which  confuses Mark. Cabrera comes out to attack the   specter too, but his shot is also in vain and  he gets killed too. At least his distraction   gives time for the last few soldiers to leave the  building and enter the vehicle in order to finally   leave the area. As they drive away, Mark tries  to ask Comstuck about what he saw. He explains   he hid under the tub for hours and that he did  see the specter, but before he can say more,   the truck begins shaking and falls to the ground -  it turns out they're accidentally entered a mined   area. Comstuck hits his head as he falls and ends  up dead, so do the drivers. Mark concentrates on   recovering the hyperspectral camera, then everyone  runs into an abandoned factory to be safe while   they try to contact the base, although the radios  aren't working well. The team begins discussing   what happened, finally accepting that what they  saw wasn't technology but supernatural. Mark   explains the specter was humanoid and the way it  look at him proved it was conscious, but he still   doesn't know what it is. All of the soldiers'  goggles got destroyed in the crash, but Mark   offers the hyperspectral camera to check outside  the building. They discover there are a bunch of   specters trying to come after them, but they can't  because a circle of iron fillings surrounds the   building and hurts them if they try to cross it.  This circle seems to be acting as a barrier and   it must've been put by someone there. At that  moment, they hear a noise coming from another   room. They shoot at the door to open it and scare  the civilians in the process because it turns out   to be just an innocent pair of siblings. Sari and  Bogdan can't speak English, but Fran speaks their   language and learns they're alone in here. In this  room the soldiers also find a transmission tower,   which puts out a huge signal. Everyone within  20 miles will hear their conversation, including   the enemy, but Sessions points out this is their  only chance to survive. While the soldiers try to   contact the base, Mark talks to the siblings with  Fran as his interpreter. Sari explains it was her   father that put the barrier around the building,  and she thinks the specters are lost souls trapped   between life and death that can't find peace. Mark  wants to know where the father is to learn more,   so Sari leaves Bogdan with the soldiers while she  shows Mark and Fran the location. Sari hasn't told   her brother the truth yet: their father died  while putting up the barrier and Sari had to   drag his body inside, Bogdan just thinks his dad  is away looking for help. Mark inspects the body   and finds a necklace with a ceramic tile and a  map of Masarov, a district by the river. Sari   doesn't know how her dad knew about the iron,  but she does know it was in Masarov where the   specters began appearing. Sometime later, the  soldiers get a message from the base confirming   they'll send helicopters and tanks to pick them  up at an open plaza about half a mile from there   at dawn. The team begins arguing if this is  a good idea because they won't have cover,   but Mark quickly comes up with a plan: there are  is a lot of iron fillings in the factory, so they   can use it to make bombs that will actually damage  the specters. He also modifies the hyperspectral   camera to make it a large searchlight that will  reveal the specters on the streets. They send the   instructions behind such modification to the base  as well, that way their rescuers can also make a   few searchlights and arrive safely. While everyone  works, Sari finally tells Bogdan the truth and   gives him their father's necklace. A few moments  later, they hear some noises outside and use the   new searchlight to discover what's going on: the  specters have climbed the neighboring building   and are jumping on the power lines to cross  over the barrier without getting hurt. The   team immediately gets ready to leave and Sari  shows them an alternate exit through the back,   but the specters follow them anyway. Mark aims  the searchlight at them and now that they're   visible to everyone, the soldiers can shoot at the  specters with their new iron-filled bullets. The   plan is a success and these bullets do damage the  specters, although the impact sometimes pushes the   soldiers back too. The soldiers shoot a few extra  bullets to create an iron fog that blocks the way,   momentarily leaving the specters behind as  they follow Sari's directions to finally   reach the open plaza. The team hides inside an  abandoned bus and Mark notices the searchlight   is running out of power. This means they're  completely blind to any incoming attacks,   and they worry when they hear a noise approaching.  Fortunately it's the rescue tanks coming for them,   and they've brought their own searchlights. When  they activate them, they reveal all the specters   hiding in the surrounding buildings, and they  immediately open fire on them. The team has   to leave the bus in a rush and hide away from  the falling debris, this means they don't get   to communicate their findings to their rescuers  in time. The new arrivals leave the tanks and go   after the specters with normal weapons, which  of course ends up with most of them dead. The   specters don't only kill the soldiers, they attack  the tanks as well, destroying the searchlights but   not being able to move through the ceramic parts,  which Mark notices. The team needs to run away,   but they can't find Bogdan. The boy is looking  for his dad's necklace because he accidentally   dropped it, and Sari tries to go after him, but  before she can reach him, a specter goes through   Bogdan. Mark checks on the boy and confirms it's  too late as Fran holds onto a grieving Sari. The   specters begin gathering in the center of the  area to gather forces and for a moment the team   thinks it's all over, but luckily the helicopters  land just in time. Mark notices the wind from the   helicopter's rotor is making it hard for the  specters to advance, so he grabs all the iron   grenades he has and breaks them on the ground. The  wind pushes the iron fillings toward the specters   and keeps them away while the team finally  escapes. As soon as the helicopters take off, they   notice they aren't going back to the base. This is  because the base has been compromised, so they're   going to a refugee bunker instead. When they  look through the windows at the streets below,   they notice the specters are spreading everywhere  and causing chaos all over the city. When they   arrive at the bunker, the guards immediately point  their weapons at them, but Fran quickly speaks   their language to identify themselves and the team  is allowed inside. The soldiers check every corner   of the bunker to make sure security measures are  in order while Mark and Fran take Sari to see a   doctor because shrapnel got caught on her shoulder  during the escape. To distract Sari from the pain,   Mark reveals he retrieved her father's necklace  from Bogdan and hands it to her. He also asks her   more questions about her father and what he knew  about the specters, but Sari only knows that he   made ceramic containers for Masarov, the power  plant the specters come from. At that moment,   a loud thump echoes outside, but it isn't the  enemy: it's Orland, who has arrived with the   few people that survived the attack on the base,  bringing with them as much gear as they could.   Orland tells them all about the attack coming  from invisible people and how only nineteen of   them survived. The escape was done in such a rush  that they couldn't contact their superiors to ask   for help, so there's no plan other than fortifying  the bunker and waiting. An argument ensues among   the soldiers since some of them want to do  something but the others think it isn't worth   it. Mark suddenly interrupts them when he finally  puts all the clues together and realizes what the   specters are. Comstuck hid under the tub, which  is made of ceramic, and the specters couldn't   touch the ceramic parts of the tanks either. Being  hurt by iron, being so cold that it'll kill you,   and being capable to go through walls but not  ceramic indicates this is a case of "Bose-Einstein   condensate", a state of matter that was predicted  by Nath Bose and Albert Einstein. Making such a   state needs a lot of power, which explains the  fact the specters come from the Masarov power   plant. This is definitely a weapon that was let  loose by the enemy. If someone made them, it also   means they can be broken down. Mark remembers  the invention he finished before coming here,   which should be able to hit the specters with  plasmic discharge, and proposes to build a   bunch of them using all the gear they brought from  the base and any electronics they can find in the   bunker. The soldiers immediately begin looking  for all the pieces that can be useful and Mark   gets down to business, putting together as many  weapons as he can. Among the gear they brought   from the base they find a robot they called "a  mechanical rottweiler", and they use it to install   a new searchlight. They also look at a map of the  city, and with the information Fran gathers from   the locals, they make a plan to fly to the power  plant through the safest route. After Orland gives   the team an inspirational speech, they leave for  the power plant. With the rottweiler lighting up   the power plant's platform, the first group of  soldiers tests the new weapons on some incoming   specters. Mark's invention works wonderfully  and once they have confirmed the first horde   of specters is destroyed, the other two groups  leave the helicopters as well. Now every platform   has been blocked, the soldiers concentrate on  fighting the specters that keep coming while   the helicopter flies ahead to drop Mark, Fran, and  two guards inside the plant. The group is attacked   by specters as soon as they enter, so they decide  to split up: the soldiers stay to fight while Mark   and Fran look for the lab as fast as possible,  since the fighters outside don't know for how long   they'll be able to hold on. The pair comes across  an armored door and once Fran hacks the lock,   they finally get access to the main lab, where  they discover the scientists are all dead. There   are x-rays that indicate they've been scanning  humans on a molecular level, and then they would   use a special 3D-printer to replicate them in  condensate form. There's a whole assembly line,   confirming this is a weapon. Looking further into  the lab, Mark and Fran find dozens of specters   lock inside cells. Half of these are broken, which  means some accident cause a bunch of specters to   escape and the scientists couldn't stop them.  There's a machine with an emergency shutdown   procedure but it has lots of technical terms  that Fran will need some moments to translate.   Meanwhile outside, the soldiers notice the latest  specters are capable of putting themselves back   together, making them extra hard to fight, meaning  some men are starting to die. Fran manages to   figure out that they need to unlock all the ports  and then pull a bracket to release the cables,   this should kill all the specters at the same  time. Mark climbs on top of the machine while Fran   shoots at the specters that escape their cells  with the intention of stopping Mark. Outside,   a whirlwind of specter force is forming, pushing  the soldiers back. One man tries to shoot at its   center at the same time Mark finishes pulling off  the cables and the bracket, causing a shock wave   that makes Mark fall off the machine and sends the  soldiers outside flying. All the specters begin to   disintegrate, and the soldiers can't help noticing  the pain on their transparent faces as they   disappear. Fran goes to check on Mark, and now  they're on a lower floor, they hear a noise coming   from a hidden room. Inside they're disturbed to  find the brains and peripheral nervous systems of   real humans inside capsules because the scientists  hadn't just been scanning people, they were using   them to make and control the specters. They  aren't dead, but they aren't truly alive either,   yet Mark can tell they're in pain so he begins  disconnecting them to bring them peace. Fran   wants to stop him, saying he should think about  the bigger picture, but Mark points out that the   bigger picture is precisely doing this. Now that  the specters are gone, the American army can send   people to rescue the team and bring them to a  new base. However only a few days pass before   the soldiers are going out again because the  government wants them to retrieve the machines   from the power plant to reverse engineer them and  find their secrets. Mark says goodbye to Orland   and Fran, and Sari thanks him in English before  he boards a plane to fly back to the States.