--- title: "The Voice of Hind Rajab: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-voice-of-hind-rajab/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-voice-of-hind-rajab" critics_score: 83 critics_reviews: 11 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." --- # The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025): what the critics said Critics' score 83 from 11 reviews: 10 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. ## Time Out — Whelan Barzey Rating 5/5. 15 December 2025. This is a stunning, heartbreaking document of the Palestinian plight and an act of intervention. It singles out the daring use of the real distress-call recordings as the spine of the film, expanded with authentic performances from the Palestinian cast. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review-2026) ## Empire — John Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 16 January 2026. The film is a devastatingly real docudrama blending actual audio with dramatisation of the Red Crescent's failed rescue attempt. It singles out the minimalist focus on the call centre operators and the real voice of Hind as making it one of the most powerful films possible. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-voice-of-hind-rajab/) ## Radio Times — James Mottram Rating 4/5. This is a harrowing and often difficult-to-watch true-life docudrama that pulls together an urgent anti-war work. It singles out Ben Hania's sensitive handling of the real audio and the material right to the end, even when showing footage of the actual car. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-o5s7nr/the-voice-of-hind-rajab/) ## The New York Times — Ben Kenigsberg Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 17 December 2025. The film is both powerfully direct and purposefully removed in its dramatization of the rescue efforts for the trapped girl. It evokes the events through the call center workers' frantic coordination without visualizing the horror from the child's perspective. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/movies/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Robert Abele Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 18 December 2025. The docudrama is a powerfully blunt instrument of empathy that prioritizes the sound of an innocent victim amid roiling pain. It fuses docudrama tools with the real audio recording but sometimes favors close-up melodramatics over deeper analysis. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-12-18/voice-of-hind-rajab-review-docu-fiction-hybrid-gaza-kaouther-ben-hania) ## Variety — Guy Lodge Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2025. Festival review. The hybrid film is unavoidably devastating due to the real audio but risks trivializing its documentary core with melodramatic and thriller elements. It confronts audiences with the girl's voice in a single-location dramatization of the call center but raises questions about ethics and execution. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review-1236505658/) ## Evening Standard — Nick Howells 16 October 2025. Festival review. Ben Hania’s dramatised account of Hind Rajab’s death is discomfiting and emotionally devastating, an utterly essential piece of film-making. It singles out the harrowing use of the real audio recordings alongside the actors portraying the call centre workers and the bureaucratic nightmare they face. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-film-review-gaza-london-film-festival-b1251965.html) ## Financial Times 15 January 2026. The critic describes the film as a wrenching drama and eulogy-protest built around the real emergency calls. It notes the precise dramatization of events in the call center and the sense of impossible urgency. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/91717b76-b582-41d9-b859-3e114b5e3455) ## Screen Daily 3 September 2025. Festival review. The wrenching and distressing dramatisation brings devastating power through its use of the actual recordings while raising ethical questions about consent. It singles out the single-location thriller device that plays out the story in the faces of the volunteers confronting bureaucracy. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review-kaouther-ben-hania-revisits-2024-death-of-a-six-year-old-in-gaza/5208509.article) ## Sight and Sound 15 January 2026. The film is undeniably powerful in its depiction of the events but the choice to embed the real voice of the dead child in a genre-inflected narrative blurs the line between resistance and spectacle. It singles out the first 20 minutes as emotionally devastating thanks to the child's voice while critiquing its later overuse and the uneven performances. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/voice-hind-rajab-emotionally-devastating-film-that-blurs-boundary-between-resistance-spectacle) ## The Guardian 4 September 2025. Festival review. The critic praises the film's audacious use of real audio recordings of the girl's desperate calls alongside dramatized scenes of emergency responders. It singles out the provocative docufiction approach for its fierce, urgent impact at the Venice festival. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/04/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review-provocative-docufiction-is-fierce-urgent-and-heart-shattering) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Sheri Linden 3 September 2025. Festival review. The critic describes the film as a gripping, intensely involving dramatization of the real events, built around actual emergency calls that create heart-wrenching urgency in a single-location thriller format. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review-kaouther-ben-hania-gripping-drama-1236344683/) ## The Times 15 January 2026. The review calls the film an impassioned, devastating drama centered on the girl's final hours and the frantic efforts of dispatchers. It highlights the shattering effect of the real phone tapes as the emotional core. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review-56dzw0zx3) ## Paste — Natalia Keogan Rating A-. 15 December 2025. The docudrama powerfully reiterates the real events of Hind Rajab's final moments through dramatized scenes of Red Crescent workers on the phone with the terrified child. It singles out the visceral impact of blending reenactment with the actual audio recordings for its crushing effect. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/kaouther-ben-hania/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review) ## The Playlist — Marshall Shaffer Rating A-. 4 September 2025. Festival review. The review lauds the film's shattering impact and effective use of archival audio blended with dramatization to convey the horror and humanity of the events, noting its thriller-like structure and bold artistic choices. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review-this-ripped-from-the-headlines-drama-about-gaza-will-rip-your-heart-out-venice-20250904/) ## Collider — Emma Kiely Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 October 2025. Festival review. The film is a devastating portrait of helplessness and bureaucracy as Red Crescent workers try to rescue the girl using real phone recordings. It singles out the effective blending of drama and documentary footage, along with strong performances, while noting some melodramatic moments. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-review-palestine/) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 14 December 2025. The critic praises the film's sensitive handling of the story through emergency call handlers, blending reality and fiction effectively, and highlights how it gives prominence to Hind's voice amid the tragedy. It notes the urgent and impactful nature of the film. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-2025-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## The Skinny — Rhys Handley Rating ★★★★. 22 January 2026. The hybrid docudrama is powerful and devastating. It uses the real audio recording of Hind Rajab to dramatise her failed rescue in near-real time. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-voice-of-hind-rajab) --- © 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/the-voice-of-hind-rajab.md