"Didn’t do their research": Redditor spots a bizarre oversight in Exterritorial that no one else did

Exterritorial, the German action thriller feature film by director and screenwriter Christian Zübert, premiered on Netflix on April 30, 2025. The film is set in the modern-day US Consulate in Frankfurt and follows former special forces soldier Sara Wulf, who loses her son on the premises while applying for a work visa. Sara suspects a conspiracy brewing as building officials deny the child’s existence.

While the film delivers on its promise of action and mystery, a Reddit user has pointed out an apparent error that has slipped through the final edit. Exterritorial shows Kayode Akinyemi’s character, Sergeant Donovan, wearing three medals associated with the Vietnam War as part of his uniform.

As the war lasted from 1955 to 1975, the account with the username xdd869 wrote that the Marine is too young to win these medals.

“One of the cast members is this young Marine, who is obviously wearing three Vietnam ribbons on his uniform; Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Unit Citation, and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal," the user noted.

The Reddit post continued:

"The prop/wardrobe people of this movie didn’t do their research. The Vietnam war ended fifty years ago, long before this fellow was born. He couldn’t possibly have earned these awards.”

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Exploring the plot for Exterritorial

Former US special forces operative Sara Wulf is the central character in Exterritorial. The sole surviving member of a team deployed in Afghanistan, Sara decides to return home after retiring from active duty. She then visits the US Consulate in Frankfurt to obtain a work visa, as she is accompanied by her son Josh, whose father is among the deceased members of Sara’s team.

Sara leaves her son in the playroom of the consulate to take care of the paperwork and returns to find him missing. She seeks help from Regional Security Officer Eric Kynch and Sergeant Donovan, who tell her that Josh never checked in, nor can he be seen in the CCTV recordings of Sara’s time in the consulate.

The German police refuse to help as they have no authority within US territory, while even Sara’s mother doubts that she has taken her PTSD medication.

However, Sara refuses to leave and continues the search for her son. She meets other officials as she digs deep, and she discovers Eric to be a corrupt officer who is responsible for the ambush that her team faced in Afghanistan on duty. Since Sara is the only survivor from the ambush, Eric has set a trap for her in the consulate to do a clean job, as per his deal with the Talibans.

Kidnapping her child, Eric wanted Sara to go berserk so that he could shoot her, claiming it to be self-defense. However, Sara manages to kidnap his daughter Aileen and proposes an exchange.

While Eric is prepared to see his mission through, Sara faces the pang of conscience and lets Aileen leave. In the end, she does engage Eric and is shot and injured by him, but she eventually manages to capture him, putting him in US custody.

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How to watch Exterritorial online?

Produced by Constantin Film, Exterritorial has a runtime of 109 minutes and can be streamed exclusively on Netflix.

As of this writing, subscription plans of the platform begin at $7.99 per month with ads. Viewers can also upgrade to a standard ad-free plan priced at $17.99 a month, or a premium plan that allows 4K streaming at $24.99 per month.

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