The Forgiven

"Everything must be faced."

2022 1h 57m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 273

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Over a weekend in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a random accident reverberates through the lives of both the local Muslims and Western visitors to a house party in a grand villa.

“Everything must be faced.”

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Cast

Ralph Fiennes
David Henninger
Jessica Chastain
Jo Henninger
Matt Smith
Richard Galloway
Caleb Landry Jones
Dally Margolis
Abbey Lee
Cody
Christopher Abbott
Tom Day
Marie-Josée Croze
Isabelle
Alex Jennings
Lord Swanthorne

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Michael McDonagh
Writers: John Michael McDonagh
Languages: French, English, Arabic
Countries: Morocco, United Kingdom, United States of America

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

ERA

Did you know

Released 4 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, English, Arabic.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Morocco, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Michael McDonagh, shot by Larry Smith. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain and Matt Smith carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Everything must be faced.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Michael McDonagh directs. Larry Smith behind the camera. Lorne Balfe scores. Chris Gill cuts. Produced in Morocco, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in French, English, Arabic.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 4 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, English, Arabic.
3International production across 3 countries: Morocco, United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Directed by John Michael McDonagh, shot by Larry Smith. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Lorne Balfe. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Chris Gill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain and Matt Smith carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Everything must be faced.".
9IMDB entry: tt3696180 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Larry Smith
Original score: Lorne Balfe
Editing: Chris Gill
Production design: Willem Smit
Costume design: Keith Madden
Makeup / hair: Linda Dowds
VFX supervisor: Luca Zappala
Sound: Brian Gilligan
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Forgiven (2022)

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John Michael McDonagh

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Chris Sawin2022-07-01
★ 5/10
The Forgiven is a peculiar film that seems to be trying to say something about poverty or the wealthy being blind to anything that isn’t directly under their noses, but it also squeezes in a few jabs at racism. The whole thing about throwing mice off of rooftops while wearing parachutes with swastikas on them is really bizarre. The film alludes to death and uncertainty at every turn with verbal descriptions of torture and a brief clip of Hershel’s beheading on The Walking Dead. Despite the best efforts of a massively talented cast, The Forgiven trudges around in circles to the point where you don’t care what its destination is as long as it finally and truly ends. Full review: hubpages.com/entertainment/The-Forgiven-2022-Review-A-Desert-Drama-Where-the-Mouth-is-Faster-Than-the-Gun
CinemaSerf2022-09-08
★ 6/10
Despite a rather a decent cast, this is all a bit of a non-story. It centres around a soirée being given by the rather ostentatious gay couple "Richard" (Matt Smith) and boyfriend "Dally" (Caleb Landry Jones) deep in the Moroccan desert. Travelling to that get-together are "Jo" (Jessica Chastain) and her rather drunken husband "David" (Ralph Fiennes). Along the way, in the darkness, a young boy "Driss" steps in front of their car and he is killed. Repatriating his body with his family exposes "David" to some of the traditions and culture of the local people who deal with their grief in a traditional manner - one that requires the man to journey to the boy's home, to meet his father - and to try to make some amends. Meantime, his rather unconcerned wife stays with their hosts and makes merry with the handsome "Tom" (Christopher Abbott). There is certainly some beautiful cinematography of the environment in which these two have chosen to live, and the film offers a gentle opportunity to observe how the rather libertine lifestyles of two gay men and their eclectic group of friends clashes with the long-established culture of their community. That gives some handsome people a chance to flirt and wander around scantily clad for much for the film, but the story is really quite lacking. Fiennes is fine as the disillusioned drunkard, but the rest of the cast are unremarkable (usually the case for the over-rated Smith) and the ending is, well, really quite disappointing. At all but two hours long, it is also too lengthy. What little plot and character development there is in no way justifies the film dragging on for quite this long. It's a good film to look at, but like a meringue - there isn't too much going on when you probe deeper which is a shame because at times the film presents us with personalities that are almost colonial in their attitudes, and that could have been built upon to give the narrative and characters more depth.