80
This Cannes favourite regards Egypt’s recent political uprisings from a fascinating new angle. A minor masterpiece of claustrophobia and expertly managed tension.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
This is a ferociously well-made film right through to the bitter end.
90
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
Running the gamut from social comedy to actioner to war movie, Clash is an original, often quite disturbing experience to watch.
70
The New York Times by Glenn Kenny
Clash turns into a full-fledged horror movie, albeit one without the fake comfort of a supernatural or science-fiction pretext. It’s just man’s inhumanity to man, in full sway.
80
Boasting superb camerawork from d.p. Ahmed Gabr and stellar crowd direction, Clash might strike some as crossing too often into hysteria, yet this is bravura filmmaking with a kick-in-the-gut message about chaos and cruelty (with some humanity).
80
Screen International by Lee Marshall
While the stand-off does have its scripted moments, Clash rises above this for two reasons. Firstly, it’s intensely cinematic.... Secondly, underlying the drama is a rather poignant lament for the unity and energy of Egyptian culture, something which comes through in a wealth of small details.
80
Taking place over the course of a little less than 24 hours, it is day-in-the-life cinema at its most pertinent.
80
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
The movie stunningly replicates that sense of inside and outside that must be felt by witnesses to any historic moment: the private debate, the enclosed conflict, and the theatre of confrontation unfolding beyond. What a dynamic piece of cinema.
80
The sense of angry desperation overwhelms.
80
Time Out London by Trevor Johnston
The story is fictional, yet it builds up a chastening picture of divisive separate political and religious agendas holding sway over common humanity, and leading the country deeper into chaos. A striking, tough-minded achievement.