Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Paradise Now

  • 20052005
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
24K
YOUR RATING
Paradise Now (2005)
Trailer 1
Play trailer2:30
1 Video
44 Photos
CrimeDramaThriller
Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
24K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Hany Abu-Assad
  • Writers
    • Hany Abu-Assad
    • Bero Beyer
    • Pierre Hodgson
  • Stars
    • Kais Nashif
    • Ali Suliman
    • Lubna Azabal
  • Director
    • Hany Abu-Assad
  • Writers
    • Hany Abu-Assad
    • Bero Beyer
    • Pierre Hodgson
  • Stars
    • Kais Nashif
    • Ali Suliman
    • Lubna Azabal
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 164User reviews
    • 94Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 13 wins & 17 nominations total

    Videos1

    Paradise Now
    Trailer 2:30
    Watch Paradise Now

    Photos44

    Hany Abu-Assad at an event for Paradise Now (2005)
    Hany Abu-Assad at an event for Paradise Now (2005)
    Hany Abu-Assad at an event for Paradise Now (2005)
    Patrick Fugit, Joshua Ligairi, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the set of the Sundance Film Lab version of Paradise Now.
    Paradise Now (2005)
    Paradise Now (2005)
    Ali Suliman in Paradise Now (2005)
    Ali Suliman in Paradise Now (2005)
    Ali Suliman in Paradise Now (2005)
    Ali Suliman in Paradise Now (2005)
    Paradise Now (2005)
    Ali Suliman in Paradise Now (2005)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kais Nashif
    Kais Nashif
    • Said
    Ali Suliman
    Ali Suliman
    • Khaled
    Lubna Azabal
    Lubna Azabal
    • Suha
    Hamza Abu-Aiaash
    • Checkpoint Soldier
    Lutuf Nouasser
    Lutuf Nouasser
    • Car Owner
    • (as Lotuf Neusser)
    Mohammad Bustami
    • Abu-Salim
    Ahmad Fares
    • Tea Boy
    Waleed On-Allah
    • Taxidriver Suha
    Asaad Dwikat
    • Shawarma Shop Owner
    Imad Saber
    • Shawarma Customer
    Mohammad Kosa
    • Photographer
    Amer Hlehel
    Amer Hlehel
    • Jamal
    Hiam Abbass
    Hiam Abbass
    • Said's Mother
    Nour Abd El-Hadi
    • Said's Sister
    Amjad Al-Imlah
    • Said's Brother
    Dina Titi
    • Khaled's Sister
    Yosef Abo Dheir
    • Khaled's Father
    Sadi El-Masri
    • Khaled's Attendant
    • Director
      • Hany Abu-Assad
    • Writers
      • Hany Abu-Assad
      • Bero Beyer
      • Pierre Hodgson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Omar
    7.5
    Omar
    Syrian Bride
    7.4
    Syrian Bride
    Al qods fee yom akhar
    6.4
    Al qods fee yom akhar
    Tsotsi
    7.2
    Tsotsi
    Salt of This Sea
    6.8
    Salt of This Sea
    Ajami
    7.3
    Ajami
    The Idol
    6.7
    The Idol
    The Time That Remains
    7.0
    The Time That Remains
    Divine Intervention
    6.6
    Divine Intervention
    The Class
    7.5
    The Class
    The Insult
    7.6
    The Insult
    Chronicle of a Disappearance
    6.9
    Chronicle of a Disappearance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The first Palestinian film to be nominated for an Academy Award.
    • Goofs
      When Khaled makes his speech for the second time, two of the people watching him are eating pitta. The man with the purple T-shirt is holding the pitta with his right hand in one shot, with his left in the next.
    • Quotes

      Said: I was born in a refugee camp. I was allowed to leave the west Bank only once. I was 6 at the time and needed surgery. Life here is like life imprisonment. The crimes of the occupation are countless. The worst crime of all is to exploit the people's weaknesses and turn them into collaborators. By doing that, they not only kill the resistance, they also ruin families, ruin their dignity, and ruin an entire people. When my father was executed, I was 10 years old. He was a good person. But he grew weak. For that, I hold the occupation responsible. They must understand that if they recruit collaborators, they must pay the price for it. A life without dignity is worthless. Especially when it reminds you day after day, of humiliation and weakness. And the world watches cowardly, indifferently. If you're all alone, faced with this oppression... you have to find a way to stop the injustice. They must understand that if there's no security for us there'll be none for them either. It's not about power. Their power doesn't help them. I tried to deliver this message to them but I couldn't find another way. Even worse, they've convinced the world and themselves that they are the victims. How can that be? How can the occupier be the victim? If they take on the role of oppressor and victim then I have no other choice but to also be a victim and a murderer as well. I don't know how you'll decide, but I will not return to the refugee camp.

    • Connections
      Featured in The 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards 2006 (2006)

    User reviews164

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    The ordinariness of Khaled and Said is what's so chilling...
    As interesting as it was, as undeniably striving for objectiveness, original in its approach and well-made both visually and in terms of production values, I found Paradise Now a little weak narratively, especially in the central part. But when a filmmaker decides to tackle a theme of this calibre, a subject as thorny and well... explosive, not to mention one involving such daunting amounts of moral responsibility towards humankind, you cannot help but feel in awe of their courage a priori.

    The attempt to shed light on the unfathomable – how a healthy, "average" young person could ever wish to become a suicide bomber – is quite successfully carried out, and is probably one of the movie's strength. It was the main reason I watched it and possibly Paradise Now's main purpose successfully nailed – and that really is no mean feat. On the other hand, I was confused by the shifts in focus between personal drama (Said's resentment against his father and desire to be different from him) and socio-religious-historical content at the beginning of the movie's second half. I wasn't sure what the director was trying to do... It's impossible to deny, though, that the tension never lets up during the whole time that Khaled and Said have the explosives strapped to their abdomens, much to the filmmakers' credit.

    Even more shocking, though, are the accusations levelled against the movie by ordinary viewers – that it's allegedly an apology of suicide bombers, and pro-kamikaze propaganda. Not all these accusations come from Israeli viewers - though most are (while at the same time, many Jewish reviewers loved the movie). One Israeli mother I read from who lost her son in an exploding bus in Tel Aviv claims that humanising the suicide bombers is the equivalent of a direct insult to the memory of her murdered child. Though you cannot argue with the grief of a mother who loses her child in such a horrendous way, you cannot help asking yourself what such people expect: that suicide bombers be portrayed as two-dimensional monsters complete with horns, forked tongues and slitty snake pupils in their eyes? This doesn't bode well for the future of the peace process in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Hany Abu-Assad has tried to give his own personal, brave, heartfelt contribution, and this viewer looks forward to more cinematic efforts from this talent.
    helpful•9
    3
    • Asa_Nisi_Masa2
    • May 4, 2007

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 18, 2005 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Occupied Palestinian Territory
      • France
      • Germany
      • Netherlands
      • Israel
    • Official sites
      • Official site (Japan)
      • Warner Independent Pictures (United States)
    • Languages
      • Arabic
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El paraíso ahora
    • Filming locations
      • Nablus, Palestine
    • Production companies
      • Augustus Film
      • Lama Productions
      • Razor Film Produktion GmbH
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,457,843
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $48,023
      • Oct 30, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,579,902
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Paradise Now (2005)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Paradise Now (2005) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.