Capernaum (2018)

Director: Nadine Labaki
Stars: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shifera, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole
Runtime: 120 minutes

Synopsis: The story of Zain, a child whose misery resulted in a controversial trial.

• Performances: 8/10

Why? An absolute tour de force performance from non-professional actor Zain Al Rafeea, who succeeded in capturing the complexity of his character and translate it to the big screen. This achievement is also Nadine Labaki's success as I feel that her direction helped the young actor a lot nail what is a very mature performance. The rest of the cast was also great, despite a few hiccups here and there.

• Screenplay: 9/10

Why? Brave. Audacious. Real. All of these adjectives and more could be used to describe the story Labaki told us in "Capernaum". It's an incredibly powerful film that will make you look at people from a very different perspective. The dialogue was great and effective, which is something that's not easy to pull off since the Lebanese language merges 3 different dialects in a single one. The humor was very well incorporated as well, which is also a remarkable feat in a film that focuses on misery and melancholia. And finally, the characters were incredibly well written and consistent. "Capernaum" is one of the best movies I've seen this year without a doubt, and its screenplay is one of the reasons why. 

• Costumes/Makeup: 10/10

Why? Two of the reasons the film's atmosphere and realism worked so well were its set and costume designs. The movie wouldn't have been the same had it failed in this department, and I'm really glad that a lot of work and inspiration was put into this field.

• Editing: 7/10

Why? All in all, the movie was pretty well edited. It didn't feel too long nor too short, and the chain of events was coherent and well paced. The scene transitions were smooth and not at all distracting as well. My only issue with it was the way the courtroom scenes were incorporated. I didn't really understand the decision to show these scenes throughout the film, nor how or why they were shown at the specific moments they were. 

• Cinematography: 8/10

Why? Ugly, but with a certain beauty behind it. I admire the cinematographer's decision to use a shaky camera since the film's topic is of an ugly nature. The use of grayish colors also plays a big role in the film's presentation, of which I have no complaints whatsoever. 

• Score/Soundtrack: 8/10

Why? What a beautifully effective score that amazingly reflected Zain's pain throughout the film. Like every other aspect of the film, I absolutely loved it.

FINAL GRADE: 9/10