The Insult
Cohen Media Group | Release Date: January 12, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireJan 12, 2018
While the issues it engages are timely and important, the film’s claim to fame really comes from its terrific accomplishments on every front, from writing and directing to acting and cinematography. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerFeb 2, 2018
In the end, the film’s most nuanced summation comes from Wajdi, who says, “No one has a monopoly on suffering.” Read full review
91
The PlaylistChris BarsantiJan 12, 2018
Doueiri wrestles with the complexities of history and morality without ignoring the humanity of the individuals caught in this frightening maelstrom of a story. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 14, 2018
The Insult is optimistic enough to leave the door open to hope. But it’s also realistic enough to only leave it ajar. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 25, 2018
Still, the excitement is palpable, and Karam and El Basha (he justifiably won the Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival) give the kind of performances that keep you riveted. Even at its most blunt and obvious, this is a movie that stumps for empathy. Who can argue with that? Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJan 12, 2018
An ethically thorny morality play that thoughtfully transcends borders, cultures, and religious beliefs. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 1, 2018
Overall The Insult is a compelling, timely movie. Doueiri is doing what artists do: Making the personal universal, while at the same time showing the impact a few poorly chosen words can carry. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 11, 2018
It’s weighed down by symbolic significance, yet powerful and instructive all the same, with a few flickerings of black comedy. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van Hoeij
A highly political movie that's also a personal story of two men going head-to-head while the women around them are left to pick up the pieces, this gorgeously shot and classily acted feature might be a reel too long but is nonetheless a fascinating piece of work. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrFeb 1, 2018
It’s quite a riveting and though-provoking journey, with compelling and nuanced performances all around, and, although it is quite serious, not without moments of levity. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryJan 31, 2018
The performances remain subtly powerful, especially Karam’s. Tony is a man whose unpredictable rage can be sparked by one wrong move, but Karam infuses the character with pathos through the subtlest gestures and facial expressions. El Basha, who is also moving in his role, was the first Palestinian to win best actor at the Venice Film Festival. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJan 29, 2018
By the time The Insult's verdict seems near, you may find yourself as wrapped up in the inherent tensions and entertainment of a traditional legal thriller as Doueiri is. Give the man his Oscar already. He's earned it. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 24, 2018
The writing is subtle and refreshingly without sentimentality — sentimentality being a common flaw in Middle Eastern cinema. Read full review
75
The Film StageJared Mobarak
How Joelle Touma’s script progresses is heavy-handed in its desire to augment the tensions and provide justifications, but it’s still powerful nonetheless. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJan 10, 2018
There is something undeniably exhilarating about the film’s honest assessment of the never-ending conflict between decency and cruelty that rages in every nation, neighborhood and heart. Read full review
70
Screen DailyLee Marshall
The film also has plenty to say about male stubbornness and the casual misogyny that lurks behind the apparent equality of Lebanese society. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJan 31, 2018
The Insult shows how personal resolutions may be the only recourse and pathway to personal peace. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric Kohn
While it doesn’t quite justify the sprawling courtroom antics or the blunt metaphor they entail, the movie nevertheless provides a profound look at the effect of historical trauma on modern Lebanese society. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJan 8, 2018
Ziad Doueiri's film is well acted and staged with periodic liveliness, but its earnestness grows wearying. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJan 18, 2018
Part of the film is a crackerjack courtroom drama. What’s dull is the trajectory. The Insult is so schematic that it shrinks to the level of a painfully scrupulous newspaper editorial. Which is fine — for a newspaper editorial. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJan 12, 2018
At a certain point, we are no longer watching a naturally escalating conflict so much as a rigged allegory of masculine aggression, contrived not only for our entertainment but also for our edification. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJan 8, 2018
As a study of inflammation in the body politic, The Insult is engaged and astute. In comparison with “West Beirut,” though, it seems oddly programmatic in its moral layout, designed to prove that, in Wajdi’s phrase, “no one has a monopoly on suffering.” Some viewers will emerge from the cinema feeling more schooled than stirred. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn Bleasdale
The film can't be faulted for its attempt to argue for some kind of humane kinship and reconciliation, even if this attempt ends up dissolving the enmity in a sentimentality that, given what has come before, strains credibility. Read full review
60
VarietyJay Weissberg
Toward the end, Doueiri attempts to give his two leads a little more nuance, but Tony’s overwhelming anger steamrolls over occasional conciliatory behavior, which winds up feeling just manipulative. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJan 30, 2018
Regardless of its high aims, most of what The Insult offers—unlikely last-minute reveals, argumentative lawyers, stone-faced judges—is the stuff of a diverting, junky courtroom drama. Read full review
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