Four Lions

"We are four Lions."

2010 1h 37m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 1,340

ComedyCrimeDrama

Synopsis

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Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce.

“We are four Lions.”

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Cast

Riz Ahmed
Omar
Nigel Lindsay
Barry
Kayvan Novak
Waj
Adeel Akhtar
Faisal
Arsher Ali
Hassan
Preeya Kalidas
Sofia
Benedict Cumberbatch
Negotiator
Julia Davis
Alice

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Chris Morris
Writers: Chris Morris, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain
Languages: Arabic, English, Punjabi, Urdu
Countries: United Kingdom, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Arabic, English, Punjabi, Urdu.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Chris Morris, shot by Lol Crawley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jonathan Whitehead. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Billy Sneddon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Riz Ahmed and Nigel Lindsay and Kayvan Novak carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Chris Morris directs. Lol Crawley behind the camera. Jonathan Whitehead scores. Billy Sneddon cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, France. Dialogue in Arabic, English, Punjabi, Urdu.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Released 16 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Arabic, English, Punjabi, Urdu.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, France.
5Directed by Chris Morris, shot by Lol Crawley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Jonathan Whitehead. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Billy Sneddon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Riz Ahmed and Nigel Lindsay and Kayvan Novak carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "We are four Lions.".
10IMDB entry: tt1341167 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 13 themes, including "muslim", "northern england", "pacifism", "dark comedy".

The technical file

Cinematography: Lol Crawley
Original score: Jonathan Whitehead
Editing: Billy Sneddon
Production design: Dick Lunn
Makeup / hair: Vikki Lawson
Sound: Nigel Heath
Stunt coordinator: Gareth Milne
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,900,000
Box office: $6,200,000
Return: 159% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Four Lions (2010)

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Chris Morris

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2013-11-11
★ 8/10
Hilarious from the start to the end.
CinemaSerf2024-03-17
★ 7/10
As recent examples of British cinema satire go, this is one of the better ones. It follows the antics of four Muslims who are fed up with the way the are being treated. It's "Omar" (Riz Ahmed) who comes up with a cunning plan that involves them trekking to Pakistan where they will learns all the ninja skills of the modern-day jihadist! The easily led "Waj" (Kayvan Novak) is up for it but convert "Barry" (Nigel Lindsay) isn't so keen and "Faisal" (Adeel Akhtar) is way more worried that his dad is having some sort of nervous incident. It's this latter man who might be more use, though - he does know how to make things explode and hits on the idea of using birds to do their bombing for them - a new slant on a dive bomber! Anyway, with all this to contend with we get to sit on the sidelines and smile as "Omar" struggles to get his "cell" to achieve anything that doesn't actually involve them inflicting way more harm on each other than on anyone or anything else. If this were ever to be a manual for a would-be terrorist, then we could all sleep very safely in our beds. The writing is pithy and entertaining, as is the dynamic between these hapless dopes who probably couldn't simultaneously light four birthday cake candles much less anything more perilous. It doesn't hang about, has it's tongue in it's cheek and sends up not just the world of would be fanaticism but also the ridiculousness of the politics of irrational hate and division. The ending has something really quite fitting about it too - birds coming home to roost - and the whole thing is an engagingly enjoyable observation of how effective humour can be at detoxifying a situation.