Nearly all of the new film “September 5” takes place in the darkened, smokey control room from which ABC Sports broadcast the hostage crisis of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. All around the room is a buzzing clutter of period analog equipment.

That’s the premise of “September 5” which relives how the ABC Sports crew in Munich was doing live coverage of the 1972 Olympics when Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli athletes, killing, taking hostages and demanding a plane. How does a sports crew become, in the blink of an eye, a news team?

Peter Sarsgaard stars as TV sports producer Roone Arledge in this recount of how ABC covered the 1972 terrorist crisis.

ABC Sports coverage of the Munich Games is at the center of Tim Fehlbaum’s take on the ethics of broadcasting tragedy.

Unfolding like a thriller but uncomfortably real, “September 5” is a haunting portrait of a time when seeing terrorism live on TV was something new and strange.

Tim Fehlbaum directs this suspenseful step-by-step look at how the network’s sports crew brought the Black September hostage crisis to viewers.

Watching “September 5” — which gets a wide theatrical release this week after its debut in select markets late last year — you can’t help but think about another 2024 film, “Saturday Night.” In