Athena

Name: Athena
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Released: September 9, 2022
Duration: 99 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Alexis Manenti, Anthony Bajon, Birane Ba, Dali Benssalah, Guy Donald Koukissa

2022

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Ratings

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5.6

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5.6	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Ratings

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Athena (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: September 9, 2022 | R

Starring: Alexis Manenti, Anthony Bajon, Birane Ba, Dali Benssalah, Guy Donald Koukissa, Karim Lasmi, Mehdi Abdelhakmi, Ouassini Embarek, Radostina Rogliano, Sami Slimane, Tarek Haddaji

Movie Facts:

Stream on Netflix beginning September 23.

Summary: After the death of his youngest brother following an alleged police altercation, Abdel (Dali Benssalah) is called back from the frontline to find his family torn apart. Caught between his younger brother Karim's (Sami Slimane) desire for revenge and the criminal dealings of his older brother Moktar (Ouassini Embarek), he struggles to calmAfter the death of his youngest brother following an alleged police altercation, Abdel (Dali Benssalah) is called back from the frontline to find his family torn apart. Caught between his younger brother Karim's (Sami Slimane) desire for revenge and the criminal dealings of his older brother Moktar (Ouassini Embarek), he struggles to calm the rising tensions. As the situation escalates, their community Athena is transformed into a fortress under siege, becoming a scene of tragedy for both the family and beyond.… Expand

Director: Romain Gavras

Genre(s): Action, Drama, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 99 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Tara Brady

Sep 23, 2022

This electrifying new film from director Romain Gavras starts as it means to go on: with a riot and fireworks. Read full review

The Playlist Marshall Shaffer

Sep 2, 2022

Especially after the film’s stunning conclusion, Athena is destined to leave jaws on the floor and heart rates significantly elevated long after the credits roll. This is the painful, perilous present tense written in the flash of a smartphone camera and the blaze of a Molotov cocktail. Read full review

Jacob Oller

Sep 23, 2022

A war epic between the people and the state, it sprints through a grassroots resistance movement like a brushfire: Blinding, dangerous, all-consuming. Read full review

David Rooney

Sep 2, 2022

While the film’s emphatic style can become draining, and its attention to technique risks overshadowing the interpersonal drama, there’s an operatic grandeur here that won’t quit, giving the constantly escalating violence considerable power. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jan 5, 2023

Athena becomes a mural of magnificently orchestrated chaos painted over a penny-plain story of brothers in conflict, and one of the most gripping action pictures to come out of France in recent memory. Read full review

Sep 2, 2022

Within the first few minutes of Athena, it’s clear this is propulsive filmmaking with thematic substance. Read full review

Justin Chang

Sep 21, 2022

As a sustained piece of action choreography, then, Athena is frequently staggering. As a drama about police violence, the woes of a long-ignored underclass and the complexities of modern French identity, the movie feels thin and overdetermined. Read full review

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User Reviews

alejandro970

Oct 9, 2022

The constant threat of racial intolerance and police brutality, put on the table in a drama narrated in an almost documentary style that makes one think that it is based on real events. It is to freeze the blood of the most indifferent.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

alanpotter17

Nov 3, 2022

O filme é um caldeirão de explosões sociais: xenofobia, pobreza, truculência policial, tudo isso em meio às novas redes sociais e canais de comunicação organizando aquele micromundo.
Meio teatralizado e com várias cenas sem cortes, a violência, ainda que plastificada, causa certo reboliço eO filme é um caldeirão de explosões sociais: xenofobia, pobreza, truculência policial, tudo isso em meio às novas redes sociais e canais de comunicação organizando aquele micromundo.
Meio teatralizado e com várias cenas sem cortes, a violência, ainda que plastificada, causa certo reboliço e não está de forma gratuita. O ritmo é excelente, embora peque por alguns excessos, como os diálogos, por exemplo, que poderiam ser melhor explorados em certas pausas (veja como o filme cresce quando ocorrem poucos momentos de contemplação).
Tudo isso na França, berço da civilização moderna que nos deu o legado da "igualdade, liberdade e fraternidade". Só não é uma obra-prima porque lhe falta mais densidade, já que as cenas de ação respondem por toda a mensagem que quer passar, em resumo, uma guerra civil nascente. O fato de seguir a família de 4 irmãos, cada um com um papel social diferente, fez com que o roteiro, com falhas, se elevasse, uma vez que temos aqui diferentes pontos de vista que se entrelaçam a todo o tempo, sem pausas para pensarmos qual o lado certo de toda a confusão. Um excelente filme para percebermos a influência dos extremismos no mundo onde a tecnologia cabe no bolso, onde ainda há a presença da exclusão urbana em meio à inclusão digital, ou seja, num mundo cada vez mais tecnológico cujas raízes da desigualdade não conseguiram ser liquidadas.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

simonjanos

Jan 19, 2023

However calculated for effect, it is a very good mix of everything it wants to show. The unsolvable situation, the different brothers (former soldier, overzealous martyr, dealer)... Everything is here: the situation of former immigrants, the intractability of acceptance, the differentHowever calculated for effect, it is a very good mix of everything it wants to show. The unsolvable situation, the different brothers (former soldier, overzealous martyr, dealer)... Everything is here: the situation of former immigrants, the intractability of acceptance, the different culture and a potentially inactive (in the end very active) possibly terrorist. The opening cut is amazingly good. Actually a strong 7-8/10, but it goes up to 9/10. (10/10 clearly "La haine" : )… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LulaReiki

Sep 30, 2022

Intense film from the beginning, with a story that surprises at the end. Good performances, precise direction and great soundtrack

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Sep 25, 2022

The narrative goes out the window, and yes, some of what it does at many points feels more exploitative than anything else, especially considering themes like police violence and racism, but I get that the idea is chaos and not lecturing, and if you do as I did, once you accept that that'sThe narrative goes out the window, and yes, some of what it does at many points feels more exploitative than anything else, especially considering themes like police violence and racism, but I get that the idea is chaos and not lecturing, and if you do as I did, once you accept that that's its angle, you'll start to enjoy it better.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Mauro_Lanari

Nov 27, 2022

(Mauro Lanari)
"Urban epic symphony immortalized in a giant video clip with a magniloquent epic breath," self-sabotaged by an aestheticization of violence and anger, by a pathos that overwhelms the logos tripping over the sensationalism of the melò action, pumped up and pompous: once(Mauro Lanari)
"Urban epic symphony immortalized in a giant video clip with a magniloquent epic breath," self-sabotaged by an aestheticization of violence and anger, by a pathos that overwhelms the logos tripping over the sensationalism of the melò action, pumped up and pompous: once finished mastering drones, steadicam and long take, it's all over. Spurious fruit of the virtuosic form of Cuaròn/Iñárritu and of the theme of the banlieues in flames of Kassovitz/Ladj Ly, it is not clear to me why prize after prize rains down on them while Gavras jr. would be "hysterical, unproblematic and ideologically disconcerting".… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

deck

Nov 7, 2022

Glorification of vigilantism and crimes disguised as victims. Unreflective and staged like a third-rate war film, the film does not deal with social problems either emotionally or in terms of content. The film may be an outpouring for young petty criminals. everyone else shouldn't even tuneGlorification of vigilantism and crimes disguised as victims. Unreflective and staged like a third-rate war film, the film does not deal with social problems either emotionally or in terms of content. The film may be an outpouring for young petty criminals. everyone else shouldn't even tune in and waste their time with this nonsense.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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