The Insult

The internationally acclaimed new film from multi award-winning writer/director Ziad Doueiri, 2018 Oscar-nominee The Insult is a thrilling new legal drama centering on a minor disagreement that escalates into a nationwide controversy.

It’s a scorching hot afternoon in Beirut. Forty-something mechanic Tony already has a chip on his shoulder about Palestinians, so he’s less than welcoming when 60 year-old Yasser, the foreman of a construction crew working on the street outside, asks him to fix the faulty drainpipe on his balcony.

Tony closes the door in his face, so Yasser replaces the pipe anyway, only for Tony to smash it to pieces. Passions boil over, each man digs in, and what should have been a trivial incident easily shrugged off escalates quickly into a dispute that reverberates through their families and communities. Eventually lawyers are called in and the men find themselves in the centre of a highly publicised trial – one that reopens historical and personal wounds on both sides.

Critic Reviews:

• " A thrilling, thoughtful and complex story. " – Wenlei Ma

• " Superbly acted by all concerned, and filmed in an unobtrusive, loosely fluid style, The Insult is provocative and inclusive. " – David Stratton

• " “The Insult” is optimistic enough to leave the door open to hope. But it's also realistic enough to only leave it ajar. " – Ty Burr