The Syrian Bride Reviews

Unrelentingly pedantic, it's also utterly humorless.

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Riklis performs a delicate balancing act, juggling a half-dozen plotlines, each of which is made vivid by his terrific cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

Political dramas and soap operas don't have much in common, which makes this hybrid as surprising as it is entertaining.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

An extraordinary Israeli film that is unlike any other wedding film ever made!

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

While the film's depiction of bureaucratic frustrations and familial woe are universal, the characters themselves can be difficult to warm up to and often seem as arid as their surroundings.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

An engrossing absurdist comedy.

| Original Score: 3/4

A thoughtful and engaging film set in the turbulent Golan Heights.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

This Israeli film gives us an honest look at situations we never see in the news. It may have too many flaws to be a good film, but for its content, it is a winner.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

It's a lovely little film that puts a big, big bite on some very large issues.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

It is written, directed and acted with real compassion and sympathy for the humanity of its characters, no matter who they are or on what side of these multiple issues they turn out to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5

All politics is personal, but rarely has that credo been illustrated so winningly as with Eran Riklis' delicate comedy about the maddening intersection of families, cultures and borders.

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The movie charms while making a bold statement about the borders that governments and individuals construct to keep each other apart.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

As enjoyable a piece of cultural satire as any that's come out of this highly troubled region.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

The real interest in the film enters by the side door, through supporting characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Comes by its sweetness honestly. And while multinationalism is no guarantee of quality, this film is a true multinational affair.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Though too schematic and too intent on resolving all its prickly family issues, The Syrian Bride nonetheless packs an emotional punch.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

It seems to line up every conceivable cultural, sexual or religious fender-bender it can for maximum conflict. But at the same time, Israeli director Eran Riklis and Palestinian co-writer Suha Arraf use the device to reveal touching human complexity.

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I like everything about The Syrian Bride except the title. And, in the grand scheme of things, that's no big deal.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10

There is comedy of an absurdist sort in the film by Israeli director Eran Riklis and Palestinian screenwriter Suha Arraf.

| Original Score: 3/4

The ensemble cast is generally strong, but [Hiam] Abbass, who played the mother of one of the suicide bombers in Paradise Now, is a standout.

Full Review | Original Score: B