Incendies

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  • Opened April 22, 2011 
  • 2 hr 10 min
  • R | some strong violence and language
  • When notary Lebel (Rémy Girard) sits down with Jeanne and Simon Marwan (Mélissa Désormeaux Poulin, Maxim Gaudette) to read them their mother Nawal’s will (Lubna Azabal), the twins are stunned to receive a pair of envelopes – one for the father they thought was dead and another for a brother they didn’t know existed. In this enigmatic inheritance, Jeanne sees the key to Nawal’s retreat into unexplained silence during the final weeks of her life. She immediately decides to go to the Middle East to dig into a family history of which she knows next to nothing. Simon is unmoved by their mother's posthumous mind games. However, the love he has for his sister is strong, and he soon joins her in combing their ancestral homeland in search of a Nawal who is very different from the mother they knew. With Lebel’s help, the twins piece together the story of the woman who brought them into the world, discovering a tragic fate as well as the courage of an exceptional woman. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Rémy Girard, Abdelghafour Elaaziz
  • Director: Denis Villeneuve
  • Genres: Art House/Foreign, Drama

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Fans say Go
15 fans
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Must Go!
Critics say Must Go!
82 out of 100
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Fan Reviews

Oh No!
I wanted to kill myself

by songmannn

This was the most depressing movie that I've ever tried to watch. I love art house movies as much as anyone but why is it that these films often focus on the most miserable aspects of life in order...

Must Go!
INCENDIES

by prettygirl7886

PICTURE IS A MUST SEE. VERY DIFFERENT AND A MOVIE YOU TALK ABOUT WHEN YOU LEAVE THE THEATER....

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Wonderful film

by kristaconnellymayer

Fantastic acting, beautiful cinemetography. Although it was slow moving at times, I was always wanting more. Still thinking about it the next day, which makes it a must see....

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Critic Reviews

100
NPR
| Bob Mondello

The storytelling in Incendies strikes me as primal the way Greek tragedy is primal. Shattering. Cathartic. It is a breathtaking film. Read full review

100
Chicago Tribune
| Michael Phillips

Incendies is no mere riff on a Greek mainstay. It is its own entity, delicate and fierce. Already I've risked making it sound like homework. It's not; it's an enthralling drama of survival. Read full review

100
Wall Street Journal
| Joe Morgenstern

Denis Villeneuve's screen adaptation of a play by the Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad tells a story-masterfully-of courage, cruelty, family mysteries and a chain of anger that can only be broken by love. Read full review

91
Entertainment Weekly
| Owen Gleiberman

The movie is a bumpy road of twists that leads to a revelation that has the shock and force of Greek tragedy. Read full review

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Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin as Jeanne and Maxim Gaudette as Simon in "Incendies."