Capernaum

    Capernaum
    2018

    Synopsis

    Zain, a 12-year-old boy scrambling to survive on the streets of Beirut, sues his parents for having brought him into such an unjust world, where being a refugee with no documents means that your rights can easily be denied.

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    Cast

    • Zain Al RafeeaZain
    • Yordanos ShiferaRahil
    • Boluwatife Treasure BankoleYonas
    • Kawsar Al HaddadSouad
    • Fadi Kamel YousefSelim
    • Cedra IzzamSahar
    • Alaa ChouchniehAspro
    • Elias KhouryThe Judge
    • Nadine LabakiNadine
    • Nour el HusseiniAssaad

    Recommendations

    • 100

      The Telegraph

      A social-realist blockbuster – fired by furious compassion and teeming with sorrow, yet strewn with diamond-shards of beauty, wit and hope.
    • 83

      The Playlist

      Capharnaüm is not without its issues. The director over-relies on the courtroom scenes and the movie’s message is heavy-handed at times. Yet, the sheer force of the filmmaking and its artful delivery overpowers sappy overreaching.
    • 80

      Variety

      While this is unquestionably an issue film, it tackles its subject with intelligence and heart.
    • 80

      CineVue

      Makes for a generally powerful statement on human misery and grotesque inequality, though some third act creative decisions and maneuvers cause a wobble or two.
    • 80

      Time Out

      It’s quietly absorbing and fitfully shocking as we experience the sights, sounds and smells of the streets where a one-year-old child can wander around alone without anyone stopping to wonder why.
    • 70

      The Hollywood Reporter

      Although the narrative is structured through a highly unbelievable instigating conceit — Zain is trying to sue his own parents in court for giving him life in the first place — Labaki lures such outstanding performances out of the almost entirely non-professional cast and sketches such a credible view of this wretchedly poor milieu that the flaws are mostly forgivable.
    • 70

      Screen Daily

      If it doesn’t tie many (or any) of these thematic strands with a neat bow, that’s in the nature of a film that chooses raw dramatic power over narrative finesse.
    • 60

      The Guardian

      It’s a simplistic film in some ways, with a naive ending – but there is energy and vigour, too.

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