Synopsis
After an inspiring chance encounter with his idol, rookie journalist Jay Bahadur uproots his life and moves to Somalia looking for the story of a lifetime. Hooking up with a local fixer, he attempts to get embedded with the local Somali pirates, only to quickly find himself in over his head.
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Cast
- Evan PetersJay Bahadur
- Barkhad AbdiAbdi
- Melanie GriffithMaria Bahadur
- Al PacinoSeymour Tolbin
- Edward Gelbinovich
- Philip EttingerAlex
- Russell PosnerJared Bahadur
- Kiana MadaniTracy Ziconni
- Maria VosAvril Benoît
- Jojo GonzalezJojo
Recommendations
- 82
Paste Magazine
Even Bahadur’s stupid voiceover writing becomes funnier over time as we realize the clichés and groaners only serve to show what an ultimately lame writer Bahadur was—that it was his bravery, stubbornness, hope, inquisitiveness and stupidity that made him great. - 75
The Film Stage
Dabka is a visceral, engaging, fast-paced journalism drama with authenticity and a few rough edges. - 70
Screen Daily
This incendiary true story boasts a charismatic central performance from rising star Peters (X-Men, TV’s American Horror Story), whose everyman charm helps drive a narrative which has a tendency to get entangled in its own worthy intentions. - 63
Movie Nation
The real delight here is Barkhad Abdi, the “I am captain now” pirate of “Captain Phillips.” - 60
TheWrap
Dabka winningly traces the ways that a callow American gets schooled in concepts like honor and sacrifice until he is considered an expert on a country and a people that he grows to love. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
This stranger-in-a-strange-land adventure has enough appeal to sustain its limited theatrical release. - 50
Variety
The movie’s much too flashy, allowing its cheeky attitude to overpower the otherwise humanist message (somehow, absurd situations feel less so when the narrator is constantly pointing out how outrageous everything seems to be), while the acting is all over the place. - 50
We Got This Covered
Despite an excellent secondary cast and an interesting story, Dabka fails in its aspirations due almost entirely to its own smugness.
