Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

morrison-dylan-fan Since hearing about it during Oscar season a few years ago, Timbuktu has been a film I've been interested to see,but unable to due to not being able to find a DVD of it. Looking to see what was about to be removed from Netflix UK,I was surprised to find the title! I got set to at last see this Oscar nom title.The plot:Entering Timbuktu,a group of ISIS fighters declare that they are taking over the land,and that everyone must follow their version of Sharia law. Driving round the villages,ISIS force the public to follow the Sharia law,from not playing with a football to no one being allowed to be in a room with a person of the other sex. As ISIS start controlling every aspect in the running of the area,local residence begin trying to speak to the fighters contradictions.View on the film:Remarkably being the first film shot in Mauritania, (standing in for Timbuktu) co-writer/(with Kessen Tall) director Abderrahmane Sissako & cinematographer Sofian El Fani draws lines in the sand with a remarkable poetic quality,from shimmering wide shots looking across the divide of the town via the river,to haunting shots of ISIS fighters standing on roofs to locate people play music illegally. Carefully using Amin Bouhafa's gentle score to give an unsettling calm, Sissako superbly follows the daily battle/grind the residences have with long takes which have a documentary grit.Partly based on the killing of a couple in Aguelhok (northern Mali) by Islamist group Ansar Dine,the screenplay by Sissako and Tall brilliantly examines every area of Timbuktu affected by ISIS's arrival with multiple threads following individuals allowing for a full picture of the horror to emerge. Following a very important current issue,the writers give the dialogue an excellent balance between an almost documentary feel and a sharp poetic quality unveiled in the residence exposing the stark contradictions of the extremists with voices of anger,and a compassionate plea for freedom.

Pablo For starters, I'm not too big a fan of slow, rather speechless films like this one. At the same time though, it still had me captivated like the other ones and for the same reason as well. It's very interesting to me seeing what life is like in countries I never really hear or care about. Also seeing the way Islamic militant groups are outside of the battlefield was a cool thing to experience. The movie also showed how everyday people live under their governmental control. I found a lot of the rules they imposed and the punishments for breaking those rules to be quite extreme. A woman was given 80 lashes for singing in her home. Something I found strange about this system was that there was a set amount of lashes for sinning, but then you were given more lashes if you confessed to doing that sin. I also just don't see what's bad about singing in your own home, or just having a good time playing soccer. That's another thing. Soccer was seen as a sin for some reason and then the kids started playing without a ball and it seemed like it didn't matter, so is soccer the sin, or is playing with balls a sin?

thmurphy-37414 Timbuktu was a very good movie. I liked many parts of it and there were only a few that I wish were a little bit more attentive to detail. As the ending had many different holes that I wanted to just know what happened next. There will be many spoilers in this review by the way. Obviously you will realize all of the anger that is building up in the main character and why it is. Everyone believes they can just come to Timbuktu and feel that they own the place. As he eventually kills a nearby fisherman after one of his most favorable cows walks into the fisherman's nets and is shot dead. The cow (GPS) was also pregnant, and was worth a lot to the family. He accidentally kills the fisherman, and then is put on trial by the Jihad believes that have taken over Timbuktu. Timbuktu is such a peaceful place, yet it is ruined by the militia groups that just come in trying to enforce the way they believe life should be lived. One of the greatest moments of the film was when all of the kids were playing soccer with no ball, as soccer had been banned by the leaders of the Ansar Dine. Now, back to the ending, it did not really make much sense to me. As the husband is killed when the wife shows up with a mysterious biker, as soon as that occurs the daughter is filmed running towards some random direction, and the son is also running. Then the film closes out. Although the ending was not completely clear, I thought it was a very good movie. I would recommend it.

SnoopyStyle Islamic jihadists have taken over Timbuktu and the surrounding area. They have forbidden music, dancing, cigarettes, football and many other things. Women are ordered to wear gloves and socks in public. Nomadic cattle herder Kidane lives with his wife Satima, daughter Toya, and son Issan. Many of his neighbors have left. Issan leads the family herd to the river. His favorite cow gets tangled in the fisherman's net. The fisherman kills it. Issan goes home crying. Kidane without all the facts go to confront the fisherman and kills him after a heated exchange. Kidane is brought to the court. The jihadists are not from the area and language difference is a constant barrier. The jihadi commander hides his own infractions while using religion to justify his orders.If anything, this movie is not hard enough on the Jihadists. A lot of the movie is played for sly humor. The most obvious one is the people playing football without the ball while the Jihadists are not there. It is a slightly different way to poke fun at religious rule. Kidane does pose a problem. He is very much in the wrong in the argument. What he does is classified as homicide in almost everywhere. So the religious court doesn't come off as being unreasonable. Kidane needs to be innocent for the audience to see the court as being dictatorial and inherently unfair.