Capernaum (2018)

While serving a five-year sentence for a violent crime, a 12-year-old boy sues his parents for neglect.

Director:

Nadine Labaki

Writers:

Nadine Labaki (screenplay), Jihad Hojeily (screenplay)

Stars:

Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole

Top Rated Movies #116 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 33 wins & 37 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zain Al Rafeea	...	Zain
Yordanos Shiferaw	...	Rahil
Boluwatife Treasure Bankole	...	Yonas
Kawsar Al Haddad	...	Souad, the Mother
Fadi Yousef	...	Selim, the Father (as Fadi Kamel Yousef)
Haita 'Cedra' Izzam	...	Sahar, the Sister
Alaa Chouchnieh	...	Aspro
Nadine Labaki	...	Nadine
Elias Khoury	...	The Judge
Nour El Husseini	...	Assaad
Joseph Jimbazian	...	Cockroach Man / Harout
Samira Chalhoub	...	Daad
Farah Hasno	...	Maysoun
Joe Maalouf	...	TV presenter
Alexandre Youakim	...	Doctor

Storyline

Capernaüm ("Chaos") tells the story of Zain (Zain al-Rafeea), a Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the "crime" of giving him life. The film follows Zain as he journeys from gutsy, streetwise child to hardened 12-year-old "adult" fleeing his negligent parents, surviving through his wits on the streets, where he meets Ethiopian migrant worker Rahil, who provides him with shelter and food, as Zain takes care of her baby son Yonas in return. Zain later gets jailed for committing a violent crime, and finally seeks justice in a courtroom.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | 12 year old | courtroom | prison | child marriage | 

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Taglines:

"Why are you suing your parents?" "For giving me life."

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some drug material

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Lebanon France USA Cyprus Qatar

Language:

Arabic Amharic

Release Date:

20 September 2018 (Lebanon)

Also Known As:

Chaos

Filming Locations:

Beirut, Lebanon

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,988, 16 December 2018

Gross USA:

$1,661,096

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$64,370,251

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mooz Films, Cedrus Invest Bank, Sunnyland Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The boy who stars as Zain is actually a Syrian refugee. Zain Al Rafeea had lived in Lebanon for eight years and was 12 years old during production. His character is named for him.

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Goofs

At about 1hr 32mins, Zain ties Yonas's leg to the shoe stand to prevent him from following or wandering into busy traffic, but he tied the right leg in the initial scene and then after a cut back to that scene seconds later he is now tied by his left leg.

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Quotes

Zain: Fuck this shitty country!

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Connections

References Cars 2 (2011)

User Reviews

Very powerful movie !

This movie shows a lot of issues that we can find in Lebanon but also in a lot of other countries , it raises awareness of how bad life can get specially to young children . I hope that after watching this movie every single one of us will start to act in order to make this world a better place . Nadine Labaki did an amazing job because she showed the truth in a strong and realistic way . I also want to add that the kid is very talented he played his caracter in such a powerful way we could see pain in his eyes and it touched our heart and soul ! I recommend this movie it's a roller coaster of emotions !!