--- title: "Incendies: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/incendies/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/incendies" critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 15 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Incendies (2010): what the critics said Critics' score 72 from 15 reviews: 11 positive, 4 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond positively to Incendies, praising Denis Villeneuve’s handling of a family mystery shaped by conflict and inherited violence. The praise centres on Lubna Azabal’s restrained performance as the mother, which gives emotional credibility to material that frequently approaches melodrama. The reviews also admire the suspense built through movement between past and present, the force of the imagery and the adaptation’s expansion beyond its stage origins. The main disagreement concerns whether the plotting earns its emotional force. More persuaded critics find a serious tragedy about memory, identity and hatred; others find the coincidences too contrived and the suffering manipulative. Sight and Sound praises the precise editing and sensitive handling of horrific material, while Slant Magazine finds gripping filmmaking but little understanding beneath the sensation. The spread runs from strong admiration to mixed assessments, with even sceptical reviews acknowledging the performances or Villeneuve’s ability to sustain tension. ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 26 May 2011. Villeneuve opens out the play effectively, generating thriller-like suspense through flashbacks while exploring themes of conflict and fate. The critic singles out the performances, imagery, and Villeneuve's restraint as key strengths. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/incendies-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Betsy Sharkey Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 April 2011. The review highlights Villeneuve's best-realized work yet, a modern tragedy driven by beauty and rage that contemplates the legacy of hatred across generations. Lubna Azabal's soulful, restrained performance as Nawal is singled out for making the story's operatic extremes chillingly real. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-apr-22-la-et-incendies-20110422-story.html) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Stephen Farber Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 14 October 2010. Festival review. The critic praises the film's lucid storytelling of a mother's hidden past amid Middle Eastern conflict, calling it a thoughtful, mesmerizing mystery with strong performances and gripping sequences. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/incendies-film-review-30013/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 23 June 2011. Denis Villeneuve's adaptation strips away layers of a tormented family drama toward a jolting conclusion. The critic highlights the suspenseful cutting between past and present, the intense performances (especially Lubna Azabal), and the exploration of violence and legacy in a Middle Eastern setting. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/incendies-15-2301806.html) ## The Telegraph — David Gritten Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 June 2011. Incendies is a scorching, sobering achievement tracing a family's tragic history amid Middle Eastern conflict through powerful flashbacks. It delivers universal tragedy with strong performances, especially from Lubna Azabal. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8581916/Incendies-Universal-tragedy-with-fire-in-its-heart.html) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. Villeneuve successfully opens out the stage play without losing its impact. The review praises the intelligent handling of the twins' search for their mother's past and the emotional force of the revelations about imprisonment, rape, and torture. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/incendies-review-7425499.html) ## The Times Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 24 June 2011. This elegant parable spans decades and continents to explore family identity and humanity's extremes through a mother's hidden past. Villeneuve navigates complex timelines masterfully, though the twist delivers a melodramatic punch softened by intelligent storytelling. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/incendies-2gqt550b9xc) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2010. Festival review. The critic calls the stage-to-screen adaptation a bold, spare slow-burn detective story that mixes thriller elements with political commentary and vaults Villeneuve to serious-director status. Lubna Azabal's enthralling performance spanning the mother's life is praised, though the film is noted as remaining somewhat didactic. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/incendies-1117943471/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 4 September 2010. Festival review. The journey through trauma and discovery is compelling and delicately staged despite a far-fetched coincidence at the end; the Lebanese scenes have impressive local flavor and dramatic restraint. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/-scorched-incendies/5017775.article) ## The AV Club — Tasha Robinson Rating B-. 21 April 2011. The film is an agonizingly well-crafted but manipulative slog through emotional extremes with unlikely twists that undermine the project, though it features powerful sequences and style. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/incendies-1798168010) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Rating 3/5. 23 June 2011. The film is an intriguing but flawed drama set during the Lebanese civil war, following twins uncovering their mother's dark past. It gains force as a cinematic prose-poem despite contrived coincidences in its revelations. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jun/23/incendies-review) ## Time Out — David Jenkins Rating 3/5. 21 June 2011. The film offers strong performances and vivid visuals of the Middle East but is undermined by a weak, far-fetched and contrived mystery plot that lacks credibility. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/incendies-1) ## Slant Magazine — Andrew Schenker Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 23 March 2011. The film is an enormously effective piece of filmmaking with gripping revelations and tension, but it ultimately delivers empty sensation and contrived melodrama rather than deeper understanding. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/incendies/) ## Film Comment — Scott Foundas The critic calls Incendies magnificent and compares its tragic inevitability to Aeschylus. They praise Villeneuve’s command of the camera, actors and material, noting its smart geopolitics, emotional complexity and shattering cumulative effect as the jigsaw of revelations snaps into place. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/foundas-on-film-water-for-elephants-and-incendies/) ## Sight and Sound — Roger Clarke 1 July 2011. Villeneuve sensitively adapts the play into a Greek tragedy of family trauma amid Middle Eastern conflict, avoiding sensationalism while revealing horrors through precise editing and strong performances, especially Lubna Azabal's. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/6296) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic's Pick. 21 April 2011. The critic views the film as a quest narrative with the structure of an ancient folk tale, praising its meditation on memory, identity and kinship. Lubna Azabal's restrained yet powerful performance as the mother stands out as the emotional core. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/movies/incendies-based-on-wajdi-mouawad-play-review.html) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating B-. 21 April 2011. The film is mostly a competent and engaging ride with strong performances and visuals, but is ultimately held back by an overly shocking and soap-opera-like final plot twist that deflates the story. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-incendies-a-strong-film-ultimately-held-back-by-a-nauseating-final-plot-twist-20110421/) ## Paste — Paste Staff Rating 6.6/10. 22 April 2011. The review finds Incendies a captivating spectacle and tour de force of suspenseful storytelling comparable to a Bourne movie, but ultimately hollow as a film of ideas due to ridiculous, melodramatic revelations and an alienating lack of real-world specificity. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/dennis-villenueve/incendies) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson 26 February 2011. The critic notes that Villeneuve embraces melodrama in adapting the play to explore arbitrary hatred and identity turmoil, but finds the heavy-handed metaphor and stagey approach lend an air of unreality to some scenes while convoluting the timeline. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/incendies-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/incendies.md