Los Angeles Times by Justin Chang
The world it shows us, etched in fully felt performances and beautifully hued compositions, feels vividly, sometimes overwhelmingly present.
Critic Rating
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Director
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Cast
Achouackh Abakar Souleymane,
Rihane Khalil Alio,
Youssouf Djaoro,
Briya Gomdigue,
Saleh Sambo,
Mounira Michala
Genre
Drama
Single mother Amina lives with her fifteen-year-old daughter, Maria, outside the capital of Chad. When Maria reveals she is pregnant and wants an abortion, the latter of which is illegal, mother and daughter must rely on each other to brave the storms ahead and survive in a country that looks to keep them chained.
Los Angeles Times by Justin Chang
The world it shows us, etched in fully felt performances and beautifully hued compositions, feels vividly, sometimes overwhelmingly present.
IndieWire by David Ehrlich
Lingui can only exist in the face of great hardship, and Haroun’s surprisingly cathartic film honors the tradition by celebrating the fact that it still does.
Variety by Guy Lodge
Lingui may return its maker to a familiar milieu, but it’s an exciting departure in other respects. This is Haroun’s first film focused expressly on women: Perhaps it’s a coincidence that it’s less stentorian in its melodrama than some of his previous work, though given the shift, it feels apt that the film listens as much as it speaks. Its surprises extend to its choices of emphasis and protagonist.
The Telegraph by Tim Robey
It’s the silent allegiances of sisterhood, a near-underground network operating to safeguard women’s rights, which exercise Haroun’s imagination throughout this excellent piece.
The Hollywood Reporter by Lovia Gyarkye
Haroun takes a quiet, meditative approach to storytelling.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
I am not entirely sure that Haroun entirely absorbs into the drama the shocking act of violence, with all its necessary consequences. But the sheer seriousness and urgency of the deceptively unhurried story give it power.
Time Out by Dave Calhoun
It’s a simple, angry work, determined to get across its point with force and with few distractions.
TheWrap by Steve Pond
The director is more interested in quietly telling the story of two specific women, and letting the audience grasp the big picture without much prodding.
The Playlist by Robert Daniels
For the acclaimed Chadian filmmaker, Lingui, his first foray into women-driven stories wobbles with underdevelopment but still manages to be a harrowing tale of bodily freedom.
Screen Daily by Wendy Ide
In its own rather clunky way, the film strikes a blow for feminism in central Africa, and Amina, who strikes several literal blows on the man who impregnated her daughter, ends the film unexpectedly empowered by the experience.
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