Rebel

This is by far one of the best movies to hit the theaters this year! I went in with only a basic knowledge of the premise, and I was truly impressed afterwards. The cinematography is superb. The war scenes in Syria really grab you by the throat and are visually stunning! The three main characters nail their part. Special shout out to Aboubakr Bensaihi for portraying such a difficult role with so much human heart. The soundtrack really adds to the atmosphere too. The only thing I disliked were the 'musical' moments, however there were done correctly in the setting and tone, but the epilogue kind of took away the shine of the climax.. I am also affraid this will pass under many people's radar, which is a shame because production value wise this looks straight up Hollywood, but the story will not appeal to mainstream US moviegoers. IF you read this review because you are in doubt, go and watch this NOW. It's nice to see movies from a different perspective as usual. You will not be disappointed! 9/10 highly recommended.

I will explain why I think this movie is top ten my favorites.

First of all the story was written and incluenced by the Syrian civil war in 2014/2015. So this movie has realism, a lot actually.

Unlike other Middle Eastern war movies where the Americans are always potrayed as the "heroes", this one is about a perspective of a Moroccan living in Belgium, that ended up going to Syria to help, but falled in the hands of ISIS.

So the story has almost everything. Whether if it's about a family with it's issues. Or about friendship and who you can trust. Or about action with guns and bombs. Or about drama where you almost end up crying even as a man.

And if you love details, then for your knowledge, this movie is filled with it:

I love how everything is accurately depicted. They use Al-Hayat Media Center to film propaganda. Just like ISIS did in real life. They use Anasheed (Islamic music) just like ISIS did irl.

The people in the movie also look so amazingly accurate. YPG, ISIS, Turkish Forces, etc. All look 1:1 the same as irl.

More details that most dont notice are that vehicles will always become dirty, characters reappear, little jokes and stereorypes are added.

And no other movie but Rebel has added this one key fearure: language barrier among the Militia.

ISIS was a group with lots of different types of people from the whole world. Some spoke arabic, some german, some dutch, some english, etc.

I could go on with all the other details that the movie added but just watch it yourself.

I personally appreciate this movie a lot and watched it three times already.

I watched it with a friend in theaters expecting a low budget indie movie but this movie is something else entirely.

I should have known that these directors never deliver a standard movie, with just a good story and great acting. If you have seen their previous work, you know what I mean. They take risks in terms of mixing genres that would not match on paper, working with unexperienced actors and do really cool stuff with the cameras, sound and editing. This time, they delivered their best work so far.

Rebel is a movie like I have never seen before. Sure there are other movies about war in the middle east or about terrorism but this one changed my perspective and that's something.

The story is told from multiple perspectives (2 brothers and their mother) which keeps it interesting throughout it's runtime. It is a high paced movie that delivers thanks to it authenticity: the actors speak in their native language (english is rare), explosions and scenes are the real thing and the story is raw and unforgiving. This is what you get when you give a talented crew a big budget and trust them that they deliver something unique and personal. I guess the name of the movie also applies to them.

Rebel is a must-see and the best movie I have seen this year.

No pun intended as always. The movie is quite serious, so forgive me for still finding something (some call them dad jokes, not me though) to smile about. And when I say serious, some might even say dead serious. The movie that tackles Syria and the war within, has many more things to say! About family, about how people are drawn in to serve/work with or rather for ... people that pretend to care for you and your struggles ... but of course they don't really.

What we get is a deep look into how people are brainwashed, but once inside get treated horrible ... to a degree where they are not able to get out. The hurt and pain one has gets exploited to the core (again no pun intended).

I know that quite a few had this at their top of their 2022 movie list. I only was able to watch it the other day .. and I can see why they liked it so much. But while this stays mostly on the serious side, it also is able to pull off sing and dance numbers. Which is quite the incredible feat to pull off ... if you don't mind that, it is very well done.

The main characters and their family connection is one thing - being annoyed or rather distressed by the lack of attention or help by the western world can backfire ... or as already said exploited by people who know how ... the will to survive might make you do things you don't want to. Including how you would treat others ... and if you show weakness (being kind would be one of the things considered that way) ... well there is no place for you ... only to be used for other purposes ... very ill intended ones ... family is big .. family is strong ... but family also makes you vulnerable to certain things ... you'll know what ... there quite a few booms ... none bigger than the one towards the end ...

This is the fifth movie from directors Adil & Bilall. Unfortunately they got their Batgirl movie cancelled. This is their most personal movie to date. It's clear they have done their utmost best to give a nice look into the world of IS-fighters, fighting a grime, heavy battle in Syria against Assad. The movie is raw, realistic, has some great fighting seens but the acting performances of the cast are really great. It's not a typical action movie, but an intense graphic view on the lives of IS-fighters from Belgium. Some very emotional scenes are cast as musical scenes with great music. Go and check out for yourselves.