SummaryBased on a true story, an idealistic young employee (Theo James) working at the UN investigates the grisly murder of his predecessor and uncovers a vast global conspiracy, that may even involve his own boss (Ben Kingsley).
Directed By:Per Fly
Written By:Per Fly, Daniel Pyne, Michael Soussan
Backstabbing for Beginners
Metascore
Mixed or Average
48
User score
Mixed or Average
5.4
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
25% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
50% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
25% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Apr 26, 2018
70
Although James' muted performance comes across as a bit lifeless alongside Kingsley's more colorful, masterfully modulated turn, the characterizations nevertheless allow for satisfyingly complex, real-world renderings of conventional heroes and villains.
Apr 25, 2018
70
It’s to the film’s credit that it creates a sense of high-stakes peril despite us knowing the rough outcome from the get-go, and largely without simplifying its moral dilemmas into straightforward choices between heroism and villainy.
May 1, 2018
50
There are so many ideas rattling around in Backstabbing for Beginners that are never resolved, and so many duplicitous characters that are never satisfactorily explained, that the end result is a muddle of confusion and violence that could end the future of tourism in Baghdad forever.
Apr 13, 2018
50
"Backstabbing” makes an interesting run at painting the many shades of grey in this corner of diplomacy.
Apr 25, 2018
40
The film is less a distillation of the real Soussan’s memoir than a radical simplification of it.
Apr 24, 2018
38
It fills the screen with a series of explicative conversations set in offices, hotels, and cars throughout which people don’t so much talk to each other as indirectly to the audience.
May 3, 2018
25
Poor genre efforts like Backstabbing for Beginners hurt cinema’s chance to survive and thrive as the greatest medium for storytelling.
User score
Mixed or Average
23% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
62% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Aug 15, 2018
5
Inert is the most appropriate word for this drama that tries too hard to charge towards the suspense but fails as a result of the cliches that abound in the plot. Ben Kingsley doesn't even try and is more than enough. Theo James still has a long way to go if he will continue in this game.
Production Company:
- Creative Alliance
- Eyeworks Scandi Fiction
- Hoylake Capital
- Parts and Labor
- Scythia Films
- Waterstone Entertainment
Release Date:Apr 27, 2018
Duration:1 h 48 m
Rating:R
Tagline:If You Dig Too Deep, You May Not Like What Comes Up
Website:
Awards
Canadian Society of Cinematographers Awards
• 1 Nomination
