Powerful, haunting, brutal, unflinching & emotionally devastating, Incendies works like that slow poison whose real potency is realised only after it's too late and the irrevocable damage to your psyche has already been done. Absolutely unforgettable once you've seen it, Incendies isn't just the best feature that director Denis Villeneuve has made to date but is also the finest film to come out from the Canadian film industry.

Opening with Radiohead's single, "You and Whose Army?", the story of Incendies is told in two different timelines which later converge into one to deliver a huge jolt of shock. One storyline follows twins Jeanne & Simon who journey to the Middle-East in order to fulfil their mother's final wish which is stated in…

one of the best of the 2010s it dramatizes the generational impact of civil war like only a movie can, the style is wonderful and it morphs to fit different parts of the narrative. every shot contains real purpose. even the transitions put us in front of massive empty landscapes or catch the sunlight on the city during the perfect time of day. On the second watch I was able to really sit back appreciate Villeneuve's care when it comes to making rhythmic and aesthetic images (which translate into ideas.) It's just rare these days that you get a complex philosophical story with great aesthetics that also never talks down to the audience. Incendies challenges you to match its thoughtfulness…

Incendies (Denis Villeneuve, 2010) 9/10

At the will reading of a recently deceased Canadian citizen of Middle Eastern birth, twin siblings are charged with the task of finding and delivering letters to a father they believed was dead and an unnamed brother they never knew they had. And so begins a suspenseful and very graphic journey into the unknown for the two siblings where they attempt to unlock the secrets of their mother’s past and discover a parent and sibling they had no clue about. This exquisitely crafted film, of course, has a lot more to the story than this simple but intriguing setup may suggest. The director moves the plot like a thriller as we delve into the past…

Wie gut kennt man seine Liebsten? Enthüllungen können schockierend sein. Vor allem nach dem Ableben. So bei den Zwillingen Jeanne und Simon, die nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter von einem unbekannten Bruder erfahren und testamentarisch angehalten werden, die Wahrheit hinter ihm und ihren Vater aufzudecken. Während ihre Bruder resignierend ablehnt, macht sich Jeanne im Nahen Osten auf den Weg, Licht ins Dunkel zu bringen. Ein beschwerlicher Weg. Parallel wird die schreckliche Vergangenheit ihrer Mutter erzählt und so steuert Villeneuve mit zwei Handlungssträngen auf ein schockierendes Ende zu. Dabei ist vor allem der Einstieg schwer, da man die Zeitlinien, Orte und Namen erst mit der Zeit einzuordnen weiß. Vor allem, da abseits des kanadischen Ursprungs keinerlei Örtlichkeiten im Nahen Osten benannt…