10/10
10 out of 10 - Brilliant!
23 July 2018
Wow! 10 out of 10! This movie is so brilliant and beautiful. All of the children are amazing. The way it is filmed, the direction, acting, writing, cinematography, sound, locations, light, editing, everything is just phenomenal. I could cry just thinking about it. So masterfully and thoughtfully done - really a masterpiece.

We were so struck by the nuanced acting of even the youngest children.

When a story like this is shown from the perspective of children, it perhaps always heightens the horror and the repeated feeling: we can never let this happen again, we can never let this happen again. There is a realness and authenticity, highlighting the beauty of people while wrapped in the terrible warning of this horrifically dark time that this film drives this home magnificently.

There are characters who excellently depict how seemingly normal people can completely lose their moral compass and go along with something that is horrifically wrong - and grand, subtle details in those who refuse to go along. The acting in all of the roles, small, medium, and large is exceptional. Fantastically cast.

Intensely interesting portraits and composites of real people.

If you shy from films not in your language, the dialog/subtitles in this are very easy to follow.

I recommend it to all. A parent might want to see it first, but I think that this would be very important for young people to see. The subject matter is important. There is an intensity about it and the peril of involving children, but there is technically little violence shown, less violence than many PG movies I have seen.

Aspects of this movie are captivating - they truly create something very powerful. I think that I like the most that it illuminates our personal responsibility to each other.

During the movie, as a U.S. citizen, I found myself thinking often of our involvement in the Middle East (and other areas) in the last thirty plus years, the children and adults affected by UN/U.S. Iraq sanctions in the 1990s; our invasions; the displacement; what they face in that region now with terrorism and government instability; the anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish sentiments and complacency to suffering and to religious and other bigotry that we see rising in our country and around the world, and our responsibility and role in all of it.

I hope that this movie is much more broadly seen and distributed.

I marveled watching it a second time while showing it to another person and would watch it again. Thank you to all people involved in this film, love to you all and everyone, wish you all the best always. <3
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