Synopsis
In a ghetto where religion and drug trafficking rub shoulders, Dounia has a lust for power and success. Supported by Maimouna, her best friend, she decides to follow in the footsteps of Rebecca, a respected dealer. But her encounter with Djigui, a young, disturbingly sensual dancer, throws her off course.
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Cast
- Oulaya AmamraDounia
- Déborah LukumuenaMaimouna
- Kévin MischelDjigui
- Jisca KalvandaRebecca
- Yasin HouichaSamir
- Majdouline IdrissiMyriam, la mère
- Farid LarbiReda
- Bass DhemMonsieur Camara
- Maryama SoumareMadame Camara
- Wilfried RomoliRachid
- 91
MTV News
It's thrillingly, fiercely female. It takes the same neighborhood-boy-turns-hoodlum story we've seen for a century and simply flips the script. - 83
The A.V. Club
Divines, written and directed by French-Moroccan filmmaker Houda Benyamina, rivals "Girlhood" as a portrait of combustible banlieue femininity, emanating raw energy and scrappy good humor even as it builds to an unexpectedly tragic and horrifying finale. - 80
Variety
In her aces debut feature Divines, Houda Benyamina has what ought to be a career-making film on her hands. - 80
Screen Daily
Fizzing with ideas, as difficult to pin down as its heroine, Divines keeps generating electricity long after the lights have gone down. - 80
The Guardian
Maybe the final five minutes are a little too over the top, but the overwhelming impression is that Dounia has ambition and vision, a conviction that she might still be able shape her own future. It’s an exhilarating film. - 75
IndieWire
This is no simple story of girl power. In fact, it’s arguably less concerned with feminism than it is with the financial realities that impede it from taking root. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Benyamina has a hard time maintaining her film's pace and plausibility, especially during a third act that slides too far into genre territory and its accompanying clichés. - 50
The Playlist
Benyamina displays an empathetic and insightful view of young women, and the challenges of growing up, even if the screenplay doesn’t always follow through. But what Divines absolutely gets right is the deep longing and hunger young people have to better their circumstances, and the desperate lengths they’ll go to reach those goals.