Incendies

"2 letters. One for the brother. One for the father."

2010 2h 11m FR

🙌

8.1

BANGER

🔥

91%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

8.3

IMDB

★8.1TMDB · 3,507🍅91%Rotten Tomatoes●80Metacritic★8.3IMDB · 243,446

DramaWarMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

“2 letters. One for the brother. One for the father.”

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Cast

Lubna Azabal
Nawal
Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin
Jeanne Marwan
Maxim Gaudette
Simon Marwan
Rémy Girard
Notary Lebel
Allen Altman
Notaire Maddad
Abdelghafour Elaaziz
Abou Tarek
Dominique Briand
Professor Niv Cohen
Frédéric Paquet
Doctor in the Emergency Room

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne, Denis Villeneuve
Languages: French, Arabic, English
Countries: Canada, 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

Earned back only 100% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, Arabic, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, shot by André Turpin. 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 Grégoire Hetzel. 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 Monique Dartonne 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

Lubna Azabal and Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Denis Villeneuve directs. André Turpin behind the camera. Grégoire Hetzel scores. Monique Dartonne cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Canada, France. Dialogue in French, Arabic, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 100% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 16 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, Arabic, English.
4International production across 2 countries: Canada, France.
5Directed by Denis Villeneuve, shot by André Turpin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Grégoire Hetzel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Monique Dartonne shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Lubna Azabal and Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "2 letters. One for the brother. One for the father.".
10IMDB entry: tt1255953 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 17 themes, including "middle east", "militia", "orphanage", "family secrets".
12Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: André Turpin
Original score: Grégoire Hetzel
Editing: Monique Dartonne
Production design: André-Line Beauparlant
Costume design: Sophie Lefebvre
Makeup / hair: André Duval
VFX supervisor: Mathieu Raynault
Sound: Sylvain Bellemare
Stunt coordinator: Stéphane Lefebvre
Runtime: 131 min · 2h 11m
Status: Released
Budget: $6,800,000
Box office: $6,788,659
Return: 100% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Incendies (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 80/100
IMDB rating: 8.3/10 · 243,446 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 41 wins & 20 nominations total

Québec Cinéma Award for Best Film
Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Motion Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Denis Villeneuve

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2014-11-18
★ 10/10
Great movie for a great and tough story. Good photography and cut, the story is well developed and the performances are superb. Also, it doesn't fail on being over dramatic. Just the perfect balance. A must to be seen.
griggs792025-06-23
★ 8/10
Incendies crawls under your skin and stays there. Villeneuve sets the mood with silence, shadow, and slow-burn tension, building a mystery with the weight of a Greek tragedy. Some parts drag, but they add gravity to the gut-punch revelations. It’s emotionally manipulative in the best way—bleak, bold, and beautifully done.
TkA2026-07-30
★ 4/10
The rating on this movie is too high.. even 4 is probably too high. Firstly, this is a very boring movie, long, drawn out, and rather confusing with its time jumps. Secondly, what the kids do is completely pointless because the mother already knew the letters could be delivered right in their home town instead of half the world away. Thirdly, the story is a completely ridiculous and unlikely tragedy. A woman's lover is killed, but she still gives birth to his child. The child is taken away, and she spends years trying to find him, but gets put in jail. It just so happens she gets raped jail, and of all the ones who raped her it's her son who gets her pregnant with twins. She escapes to Canada with her twins, and then before she dies she sees her eldest son once again at her local pool. But she sends her twins on a twisted journey to give a letter to "their brother" and "their father". Lastly we're supposed to believe that a middle eastern woman raped by her middle eastern son is supposed to give birth to European children. Honestly regret watching this movie. Should have listened to the bad reviews.