Ali Zaoua review

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

When Moroccan street kid Ali (Abdelhak Zhayra) is killed during a confrontation with his old gang (led by Three Kings star Saïd Taghmaoui) his three best pals – Kwita (Mounïm Kbab), Omar (Mustapha Hansali) and Boubker (Hicham Moussoune) – decide to honour his memory. They do this by inheriting his dream of finding “the island with two suns”, and embark on a heartfelt quest to discover this mythical terrain and make it their young friend’s burial ground.

Featuring real street kids and displaying a stylised fusion of raw reality, fantasy and animation, this second feature from writer-director Nabil Ayouch – following his critically acclaimed 1998 debut, Mektoub – has already nabbed numerous awards at international film festivals (including a jury prize at the Montreal Film Festival).

Ali Zaoua is often moving and always gripping, an unpredictable urban fairytale whose heavy-handed symbolism is easy to forgive in the light of so many positives.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.