Les chevaux de Dieu 2013

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: Director Nabil Ayouch does a remarkable job of putting you inside this brutal world, from the garbage dumps that serve as playgrounds to soaring aerial shots of the endless tin roofs that form their neighborhood. Read more

Nick Schager, AV Club: Ayouch film casts a sharp gaze on tragedy, and the larger socio-economic issues that beget fanaticism. Read more

Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: This is less a film about terrorists than an intimate portrait of boys growing up in a toxic environment. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Anyone seeking to establish an incubator for suicide bombers could hardly improve on Sidi Moumen, a slum on the fringe of Casablanca. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: A compelling contemplation of the roots of Islamic terrorism in poverty and hopelessness. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: "Horses of God" is one of the most forceful entries in a growing body of cinema that interrogates the causes and effects of terrorism, nationalism and fundamentalism in the Arab world. Read more

Jay Weissberg, Variety: Four childhood friends from the slums are recruited by Islamic fundamentalists and turned into suicide bombers in Nabil Ayouch's affecting, strongly edited Horses of God. Read more

Chris Packham, Village Voice: Ayouch depicts the sprawling, ramshackle Sidi Moumen slums with fluid camera movements, some of which ascend unexpectedly from street level to the rooftops, the apparent result of cameras on remote-controlled aircraft. Read more