User Reviews

In this adaptation of Arezki Mellal's 2002 Novel "Let Them Come", we see a small family trying to find its way through the labyrinth of Islamic fundamentalism in Algeria's black decade (90's). This story translates the devastating conflict between the government and radical islamists consequences on normal people's lives and specially on Noureddine and Yasmina's new family life. The story begins in the late 80's when Noureddine sees his girlfriend leaving Algeria for France as he decides to stay and live in his country as a state employee because he "has nothing to write in France". Then seeing his dying mother's last wish is to see him marrying Yasmina, an old friend of him, which he does. But the couple's new life seems to make them unhappy, result of a "forced" marriage. However, they find themselves progressively growing closer over the years as comes the dark Algerian decade that doesn't help the situation but makes it even more complicated. This movie can be hard to watch for some people as it is full of violence, mostly the bloody ending which left a lot of viewers petrified. However, even if the movie is not made for everybody, that doesn't mean that it is a bad one. It has a lot of qualities, mostly the fact that it translates the story of millions of Algerian families from those days through two hours of frames, and being someone who was born after the black decade, movies like this one can make me put images onto the words that older people say when they talk about facts from those days. Also, it is an add to Algerian cinema which became poor since the 90's knowing that it has some nominations and won some prizes like the "Special Jury Prize Muhr Feature Award". The framing and the camera movements are finely done and serve the script well but nothing special about them. The editing is dynamic and the cinematography added to the music makes you feel the mood of a scene without any word from the actors. Talking about the actors, the performance was maybe the best asset of the movie, Amazigh Kateb and Rachida Brakeni were fantastic, making the viewer living every moment of the film as If they were actors of the story themselves.

This movie is a good asset to the Algerian cinema and everyone should watch it on a big screen!