---
title: "Timbuktu: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/timbuktu/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/timbuktu"
critics_score: 85
critics_reviews: 20
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."
---

# Timbuktu (2014): what the critics said

Critics' score 85 from 20 reviews: 20 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative.

The reviews are unanimously positive about Timbuktu, with praise centred on Sissako’s humane account of life under jihadist occupation. Most critics admire how deadpan humour exposes the occupiers’ absurd rules and hypocrisy without softening the violence. The desert imagery and carefully composed wide shots draw repeated praise, as does the attention to ordinary people’s dignity. Several reviews single out the mimed football match, while others emphasise the women’s defiance and the central family’s performances.

There is little substantive disagreement, and the differences are chiefly in emphasis. Some critics stress the terror and suffering; others value the comedy and the refusal to make the jihadists into stereotypes. The Hollywood Reporter acknowledges eccentricities but finds the imagery and characters compelling enough to carry them. Reservations remain scarce: even the less enthusiastic assessments praise the film’s calm compassion and sharp observation of cruelty.

## Little White Lies — David Ehrlich

Rating 4/5/5. 29 May 2015. 

Sissako's film is a terse but poetic humanist masterpiece that exposes the irreducible humanity resisting ideological control through a mosaic of everyday moments amid extremism. It complicates primal emotions without manipulation, revealing the soft tissue beneath the armour of fundamentalists.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/timbuktu)

## Film Comment — Michael Sragow

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2015. 

The critic praises the film's bracing originality and poetic response to the jihadist occupation of Timbuktu, highlighting its visual mastery, charged tableaux, and emotional depth in depicting oppression and human resilience.

[Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/review-timbuktu-abderrahmane-sissako/)

## Los Angeles Times — Betsy Sharkey

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2015. 

The critic calls the film a provocative, sometimes satiric drama that indicts repression through absurd policies and personal stories under jihadist rule. It singles out the blend of horror and humor, the dignity of ordinary people, and the haunting cinematography of the desert setting.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-timbuktu-review-20150130-column.html)

## Sight and Sound — Nick Pinkerton

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 May 2015. 

Sissako portrays the jihadist occupiers as awkward mediocrities whose arbitrary rules lead to violence, showing moral intelligence in equating the fate of the guilty and innocent under their rule. The review highlights the film's ability to underscore the strangeness of events while maintaining faith in the audience.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-timbuktu)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Deborah Young

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 May 2014. Festival review. 

The critic finds the film a hard-to-forget poetic social outcry on jihadist excess in Mali, with soul-stirring imagery and strong characters that make it watchable despite eccentricities.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/timbuktu-cannes-review-704198/)

## Variety — Jay Weissberg

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2014. Festival review. 

The critic praises Sissako as one of cinema's true humanists for his subtle, empathetic drama that condemns intolerance without resorting to stereotypes. It singles out the film's stunning visuals, choral structure showing multicultural life, and discreet yet powerful handling of tragedy and repression.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/cannes-film-review-timbuktu-1201181839/)

## Vulture — David Edelstein

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2015. 

The critic calls the film shattering and deeply humanist, praising its light touch and sympathy for characters amid dread, while singling out a long, grotesque wide shot of violence by a river.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2015/01/movie-review-timbuktu.html)

## Empire — David Parkinson

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2015. 

The tranquillity of a law-abiding Muslim family is shattered by gun-toting jihadists in this harrowing reflection on the 2012 occupation of northern Mali. It is exceptional human filmmaking.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/timbuktu-review/)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 28 May 2015. 

The critic praises the film's complex depiction of bigotry and violence with moral authority and grace, highlighting its witty and subversive visual moments amid the portrayal of a traumatised nation. The one thing singled out for praise is the brilliant visual moments and sly scenes like the mimed football match.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/28/timbuktu-review-abderrahmane-sissako-africa)

## The AV Club — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Rating B+. 29 January 2015. 

The critic sees the film as mature polemical filmmaking that turns wry comedy about inept jihadists into terror, highlighting how farce becomes horror under ideological control.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/timbuktu-moves-from-wry-comedy-to-deep-horror-1798182560)

## Evening Standard — David Sexton

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 24 May 2014. Festival review. 

The film offers a calm, attentive study of tyranny and unreason under jihadist occupation in Timbuktu. It is beautifully and gravely filmed, showing the dignity of the people and landscapes without agitation or campaigning.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/timbuktu-film-review-9430334.html)

## Slant Magazine — Chris Cabin

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 October 2014. 

The critic praises the film's fury and condemnation of jihadists who feign faith, singling out its peerless clarity on true faith and a standout long widescreen shot of a family conflict.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/timbuktu/)

## Time Out — Keith Uhlich

Rating 4/5. 15 May 2014. Festival review. 

Sissako delivers an unflinching depiction of the perils of resisting extremism, juxtaposing cruel acts with poetic images while showing residents living under siege with quiet defiance. The film makes living itself feel like a curse in this context of terror and oppression.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/timbuktu)

## The Times — Kate Muir

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 29 May 2015. 

The review highlights the absurdity of the fundamentalist occupation through local perspectives and traditional life clashing with Sharia rules, noting ironic scenes like imaginary football and the film's relevance amid rising extremism.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/sport/football/article/timbuktu-bfgzh7hnqz0)

## The New York Times — A.O. Scott

Rating Critic's Pick. 27 January 2015. 

The critic describes the film as an unflinching, quietly furious exploration of life under radical Islamist rule that examines absurdities with calm compassion. It singles out the film's examination of cruelty mixed with hypocrisy and its relevance to broader global issues.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/movies/timbuktu-an-abderrahmane-sissako-film-about-radical-islam.html)

## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh

Rating 5/5. 24 May 2014. Festival review. 

The film is praised for its elegant and intelligent portrayal of life under jihadist rule in Timbuktu, highlighting the corrosive effects of extremism on ordinary people. It singles out the strong, defiant women and the surreal football match scene as particularly evocative.

[Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/cannes-2014-timbuktu-review/)

## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 2 February 2015. 

Sissako delivers an unflinching look at occupation and resistance, exposing the double standards and threats of the regime through layered storytelling. The review highlights the powerful depiction of women at the forefront of defiance against the fundamentalists.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/timbuktu-2014-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze)

## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff

Rating B+. 14 May 2014. Festival review. 

The film is a distinctive, artfully crafted mosaic that humanizes stories of extremism with authenticity and emotional depth. It singles out the central family's performances and the balance of whimsy, surrealism, and brutality in its storytelling.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/cannes-review-abderrahmane-sissakos-powerful-persuasive-profound-timbuktu-20140514/)

## Paste — Jeremy Mathews

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 25 January 2015. 

The critic praises director Abderrahmane Sissako's deadpan approach to the subject of jihadist occupation, which dismantles extremist ideology through sharp observations rather than overt emotion. They single out the film's success in humanizing the jihadist characters, revealing them as ordinary people with flaws and temptations.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/timbuktu)

## The Skinny — Philip Concannon

Rating 4/5. 20 May 2015. 

Sissako highlights the absurdities and contradictions of the jihadist regime with comic effect while depicting the suffering of ordinary people with lucid anger; the film is an essential work and vital plea for understanding and peace, marked by deep wisdom, humanity and brilliant composition.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/timbuktu)

---
© 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/timbuktu.md