It is a fictional dramatization, loosely based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, when U.S. Army soldiers raped an Iraqi girl and murdered her along with her family.

The French documentary crew films the soldiers performing their routine duties as they man a random checkpoint as part of their deployment in Iraq, to help curtail insurgent activity.

One day, the French documentary videotapes an incident in which Private First Class Reno Flake (Patrick Carroll), while manning a Humvee-mounted M2 machine gun, fires on a speeding car that tries to rush through the checkpoint.

It is later revealed that the brother, the driver of the car, was simply trying to get his pregnant sister to the hospital, as she was in labor, and misinterpreted the soldiers' commands to stop, believing that they were telling him that he was clear to proceed.

Sergeant Jim Vazquez (Mike Figueroa) defuses the situation before it gets out of hand, stating that, under the rules of engagement, Flake's actions were proper.

Regardless, McCoy ignores his father's objections and reports the rape, going to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to make them aware of the crimes and they subsequently interview him.

After the story makes the news, Flake and Rush are arrested and interrogated by the CID and the duo conceitedly admit to the rapes in rambling racist rants.

Gary Thompson wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer: "A repulsive movie, marred by grotesquely hammy acting and inscrutable presentation by Brian De Palma...

[14] Variety dismissed the film by stating: "Deeply felt but dramatically unconvincing "fictional documentary" — inspired by the March 2006 rape and killings by U.S. troops in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad — has almost nothing new to say about the Iraq situation".

"[17] Joe Morgenstern wrote in The Wall Street Journal: "The Americans are portrayed with varying degrees of loathsomeness, but there's not much variety in the film.

"[20] As of July 2008[update] reviewer Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave it 3 and 1/2 stars (out of 4), stating that "the film is shocking, saddening and frustrating".

The site's consensus reads: "Despite DePalma's obvious commitment to the material and passion for the issues at hand, Redacted suffers from stereotypical characters and a forced faux-doc style".

[25] Brandon Gray, publisher of Box Office Mojo, said the low per-theater ratio made the film a flop for De Palma.

De Palma has been criticized for not including that all of the soldiers involved in the real-life Mahmudiyah killings were prosecuted for the rape and murders perpetrated.

"[26] In addition, at the time of the film's release, the alleged ringleader, PFC Steven Dale Green, was being tried in a federal court in Kentucky, reportedly facing the death penalty.

Sites like "boycottredacted.com" have accused Brian De Palma and the producer Mark Cuban of treason, and called for the general public to avoid watching the film.

Republican Duncan Hunter, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee complained in a letter to the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America that the film "portrays American service personnel in Iraq as uncontrollable misfits and criminals" and "ignores the many acts of heroism performed by our Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors in Iraq.

O'Reilly claims that the film demeans U.S. soldiers and may incite violence against them, and he has called on ticketholders to bring signs to Dallas Mavericks games and all theaters showing the movie, stating 'Support the Troops'.

One movie, regardless of its subject matter, is not going to overcome their personal feelings about things like Abu-Ghraib, the criminal acts discussed in Redacted, their fears about security and lost loved ones".

Uka claimed that he shot the airman because of a YouTube video which supposedly showed U.S. Army soldiers raping a child,[35] but which was in actuality a clip from Redacted.

[36] In a confession, Uka stated that he shot at the U.S. airmen because he believed that they were going to commit additional rapes based on what the video footage from Redacted had portrayed.