North American Premiere
Hamad (Adam Bessa) arrives in Strasbourg on the hunt for a fellow Syrian exile, his “cousin,” Sami. Could he be the notorious prison interrogator who tortured countless adversaries of the Assad regime? The refugee community receives his inquiries with suspicion. The war may be over, but that only makes it harder to recognize your enemy. And the scarred, terse, brooding Hamad doesn’t seem like he’s bringing gifts from home. Then again, who can vouch for Sami?
Jonathan Millet’s crisp, menacing thriller keeps us guessing as Hamad circles his target, convinced in his bones but unable to definitively prove that he’s found his man. As to what he means to do with him, that too can be inferred — there’s a secret support network lurking in the shadows — but it’s not even clear that Hamad has settled on the end game.
Critics have been quick to draw parallels with Spielberg’s Munich. Millet’s movie is leaner and tighter, largely playing out across close-ups of Bessa’s pensive, pained face — until we finally sit down and get to know Tawfeek Barhom’s “Sami” in a couple of chilling late scenes.
Adam Bessa, Tawfeek Barhom, Julia Franz Richter, Hala Rajab, Shafiqa El Till, Sylvain Samson
France/Germany/Belgium
2024
In French, Arabic and English with English subtitles
At International Village
At Fifth Avenue