Yes, the film Patriots Day integrates a significant amount of real footage from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath. Director Peter Berg deliberately blended authentic archival material, including news broadcasts, CCTV surveillance video, and amateur cell phone recordings, with the dramatized reenactments. This technique was employed to ground the narrative in reality and create a docudrama style that enhances the film's sense of authenticity and immediacy.
The use of this footage is a key stylistic element of the movie. For instance, the moments of the explosions at the finish line are often depicted using the actual news and bystander footage that was widely circulated. The film also incorporates the real surveillance imagery of the Tsarnaev brothers, which was crucial to the real-life investigation. Furthermore, the movie features the actual video of Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz's defiant "This is our f---ing city" speech at Fenway Park. The final scenes of the film transition entirely to documentary-style interviews with the real-life survivors and heroes portrayed by the actors.
This filmmaking choice serves to create a powerful emotional impact and reinforces the film's objective as a tribute to the victims, first responders, and citizens of Boston. By juxtaposing the reenacted scenes with factual, historical records, the film blurs the line between a narrative feature and a documentary. While this method was praised for its realism and emotional weight, it also prompted discussion about the ethical considerations of using footage of a recent, traumatic event within a commercial cinematic production.
