Bad Boys For Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah bounce back from the Batgirl fiasco with a much more personal project for them, with the story of an aimless teenage boy in Belgium, Kamal (Aboubakr Bensaihi) who is disowned by his mum when he gets involved in drugs. To prove to her that he is worth something, he travels to Syria with the aim of helping people suffering from the brutal regime of Basher al-Assad. Instead, he is compelled to fight on the side of Isis, a fight that his younger brother, Nassim (Amir El Abi) is drawn into.
I am sure this is well-intentioned and there are some well-directed action sequences but it never worked as a drama for me. It is hard to reconcile such a streetwise lad as Kamal being so naïve about what is going on in the war-torn country. Also, whilst El Arbi gives a decent performance, his storyline never felt credible. The other misstep was the inclusion of rapping sequences performed by Kamal, that felt obvious and clumsy.
Rebel can be found on most rental services.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10