Infidel (2019) User Reviews (121)

Okay International Action Thriller with Big Themes

[Danusha_Goska · 7/10 · 10 October 2020]

The haters will tell you that Infidel is a poorly made, heavy handed Christian movie. It's not. It's an international action thriller movie. American man travels to foreign country and is abducted and tortured for his beliefs. His wife works for the State Department and her bosses decline to help. She steps up and tries to rescue her husband.

Infidel contains the action and suspense fans of the genre want.

Yes, Doug, the main character, is a Christian, and he is abducted and tortured by Iranians. Yes, that does happen in real life. In fact persecution of Christians goes on everyday in Muslim countries. The haters are getting their shorts in a wad, not over real life human suffering, but over the depiction of that suffering on screen.

There is no heavy handed Christian proselytizing in this movie. It's not a Bond film, but it's satisfying as a representative of the genre.

Jim Caviezel is, as ever handsome and charismatic. Claudia Karvan, as his wife is charming and lovable, as she should be. Hal Ozsan is very good as the torturer.

Play stupid games ... win stupid prizes.

[Entheogenesis · 6/10 · 11 November 2020]

The fact this is a film with an agenda ... doesn't make what it has to say untrue.

If you go to Cairo as a high-profile Christian blogger ... and effectively "preach Christianity" to a massive TV audience of diehard Muslims ... don't be surprised when your life suddenly takes a rapid turn for the worse. LOL.

Having said that, this is a film worth watching, not so much for the mains (turning in occasionally hammy or contrived performances), but for the concept overall, and particularly the performances of supporting characters such as "Ramzi."

The harshness and lawlessness of the Middle-East felt real (if a little cliched in places) ... but you are left in no doubt as to the eternal divides which exist between the (primarily) Judeo-Christian culture of the West ... and its counterparts of radical Islam elsewhere.

In short, if these themes interest you ... the film is worth checking out.

Routine Rescue Movie

[stevendbeard · 7/10 · 20 September 2020]

I saw "Infidel", starring Jim Caviezel-Person of Interest_tv, The Passion of the Christ; Claudia Karvan-The Darkside, Daybreakers; Hal Ozsan-Jessica Jones_tv, Dawson's Creek and Stelio Savante-Bad Ass, My Super Ex_Girlfriend. This movie is based on a true story about a Christian, Jim, that is invited to Cairo to speak about military uprisings in the Middle East. Claudia plays his wife, who advises him that he should not go-it's kind of dangerous in that region of the world and Claudia works for the State Department, so she knows what she is talking about. Jim goes anyways-Duh-and makes a Christian statement while appearing on Cairo tv which sets off some extremists. Hal and some of his friends-extremists-kidnap Jim and move him to a secluded spot in Iran. Claudia tries to get the US government to launch a rescue but to no avail. She then decides to go in and see if she can get him out herself. Stelio offers her his assistance-he has some connections. The first part of the movie is a little routine-with the torture scenes-but the last part is a little better in the rescue operation. It's rated "R" for violence and language and has a running time of 1 hour & 47 minutes. It's not one that I would buy on DVD but it would be a good rental.

Outspoken Christian incarcerated in a Muslim nation.

[TxMike · 21 July 2021]

Jim Caviezel is in the lead role as the outspoken American Christian journalist that is invited to Iran for an exchange of ideas. When he speaks his mind this upsets the authorities and he is captured, tortured, and imprisoned. They try to force him to denounce his views to save his life but he refuses, holding fast to his beliefs.

The beginning says "inspired by true events" but the closing has the usual disclaimer "fictitious and any resemblance to real people is unintentional and coincidental." So I have no idea how realistic it was.

It is a good movie to point up some of the difficulties traveling to and interacting with some Middle Eastern countries, but it is not one I would want to view again.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

Staying True to Your Beliefs

[richardpickren · 7/10 · 6 May 2021]

Well acted and directed. Caviezel plays Doug Rawlins who travels to Iran to attend a forum where he unequivocally expresses his commitment to Christianity on Iranian TV which leads to his imprisonment and torture. Gut wrenching torture scenes and exciting action sequences balanced by moving intimate scenes between the Rawlins make this a worthy watch.

The beginning of the film is a bit choppy but the narrative is much smoother when the story transitions to Iran and Lebanon.

Seriously?

[allpro22 · 1/10 · 16 October 2020]

I can't believe I'm seeing any good reviews. I thought it was a cheesy Christian movie, but it had tons of language. Acting and music was awful. Script was terrible. It was like a Rated R Christian movie. Worst movie I've seen in a while.

Not bad but not brilliant

[Chrissy-Chris · 7/10 · 1 December 2020]

I love these type of movies so I couldn't wait to watch this . The cinematography was good and I liked the locations , the characters seemed believable. A small plot twist, the ending seemed rushed and far fetched. A lot of the stunt work and fight / chase sequences could be better. Overall not a bad movie to pass some time, but I wouldn't watch it again.

Very bad !

[kiasatshahram · 1/10 · 5 December 2020]

Very Poor ! They didnt even change the street digns to Persian, poor set up , poor acting, waste of time ! Didnt know Lebanon had a border with iran, they drove to iranian border from Lebanon with the same car and a guy on board! It is laughable . Extremely inaccurate

Very accurate

[Terp2012 · 10/10 · 21 September 2020]

Having lived in the Middle East, I was thoroughly impressed by Infidel. There were far more well portrayed and peaceful Muslim characters in this film than there were evil. That's how it is in the Middle East. Most all citizens are sick of being repressed by their governments and their kings, princes and clerics. That was well reflected here and the characters felt like real people. I credit the writer/director, all of the very talented actors and the cinematographer. This is easily one of the more realistic Middle Eastern thrillers I've seen and my family and I were very impressed by it.

Forgettable

[121mcv · 6/10 · 4 December 2020]

Despite it being dedicated to certain people, I didn't find it riveting, the acting was ok, every turn was predictable.

a bore

[caninelucy · 1/10 · 11 October 2020]

Save your money, this is a ridiculous non credible so-called middle eastern intrigue story which is decidedly simplistic and superficial fitting in well with our administration of foreign policy imbeciles. A complete waste of electrons.

Absolutely Stunning! Must Watch

[axhejaz · 10/10 · 18 September 2020]

I'm a Persian and I'm a Christian and I'll say this. God bless this man for starring in this movie and demonstrating how disgusting the government of Iran truly is. God Bless beautiful, gracious, loving America! ❤😘

What is wrong with this?

[peterjg101 · 7/10 · 6 February 2021]

I find it bizarre that so many reviewers of this movie have either given it a 10 or <3. The movie deserves none of these (extreme) ratings. It's a solid Middle East thriller that doesn't seem to be too far fetched given what's gone on in that part of the world over the past few decades. However, it's certainly no classic yet, it still kept me interested.

I'm lead to understand the budget was on the low side so for what its worth, I think the quality of cinematography was good as well.

Give it a watch...

OMG...It's bad

[donbeirut · 1/10 · 2 October 2020]

Clearly one of the propaganda movies of Dinesh D'Souza.... poor production. Left after 45 minutes. Don't waste your time....

Engaging but annoying

[Gordon-11 · 7 August 2021]

It is a good film with an engaging plot. However, I'm annoyed by the repeated insensible actions of the main character, such as saying incendiary things on TV, and not getting on the helicopter as soon as possible.

Christian Capture

[jeroduptown · 6/10 · 23 July 2021]

Caviezel is a Christian blogger that gets kidnapped in Iran. Probably not a favorite movie for the left, but a decently told tale of faith and rescue.

Worst movie of the year?

[MMitchell1313 · 1/10 · 2 October 2020]

I have seen more movies than your average person will see in a lifetime and I can honestly say that this is the worst movie that I've seen in a theater. It's definitely the worst movie of 2020 thus far. Anyone who gave this a 10/10 must work for the production company.

Interesting with a few flaws. (spoilers are marked at the end)

[imdb-8198 · 7/10 · 26 September 2020]

First of all let me quickly describe my own movie rating system... A - Awesome. I want to watch it again, immediately! B - Pretty good. I'll definitely want to watch it again, later. C - Okay. If I'm bored someday and it's available I'd watch it again. D - I consider my time wasted. F - I either walked out, turned of the player or am kicking myself for not doing so.

I give Infidel a B-.

The story is interesting, mostly plausible and has an acceptable balance between the conflict and the resolution. Jim Caviezal is dependably good in anything he's in. While his character, Doug's behavior is a bit questionable in dealing with other faiths, since he's not actually a Christian leader, but a Christian blogger, that part is reasonable. (I doubt many Christian leaders would have been that blunt on a Moslem TV show, since they'd know it wouldn't be accepted very well). I like that they included Moslems assisting his wife as she tried to get him released. It showed that the problem is not just a religious squabble but actually a political problem where religion is being used as an excuse for political abuse.

I did have a problem with several plot elements left hanging with no resolution. And the character development could have been done better.

SPOILERS....

It's established that Doug's wife Liz (Claudia Karvan) was having a crisis of faith (this was only revealed after she'd used several profanities which was bad timing, making it sound as if Christians normally use language like that). But the movie ended with nothing else being revealed about her loss of faith in God. Did she still blame God, or did she resolve the conflict?

Doug also used profanities, including the F-word, but given the context, they were placed during moments of severe crisis, which hopefully people will understand as weakness, not acceptable behavior.

The character of Ramzi (Hal Ozsan) murders his own daughter, yet the only "punishment" or consequences he ever receives is a punch in the face. That was unresolved conflict which takes away from the ultimate enjoyment of the story.

This movie makes the world a worse place

[the_cinema_connoisseur · 1/10 · 3 October 2020]

The filmmakers claim that Infidel is about cultures, not faiths, and aims to show only that people of different backgrounds should try to get along. That sounded great, so I went into the theater with that expectation and while watching the film, my mouth hung open time and time again in bewilderment at how misled I was. Even now, it seems unbelievable that the filmmakers could lie so blatantly.

The truly saddening part in all of this is the fact that real journalists are far too often imprisoned and killed for their investigative reporting which attempts to bring the dark side of humanity into the light of day. There are also valid, substantial and worthy criticisms that should be made of both modern Christianity and modern Islam. I would deeply appreciate a film that authentically and unbiasedly explores these topics. Unfortunately Infidel doesn't even come close. What Infidel does accomplish, is to repeatedly portray Christians positively and Muslims negatively. It's pure and utter religious propaganda that should be labeled as hate speech. Therefore I highly recommend avoiding this movie. Infidel will only intensify righteousness and deepen hatreds and that is exactly what the world needs less of.

Best Film I've Seen This Year

[Squikpeep · 10/10 · 21 September 2020]

I can't help but laugh at some of these user reviews that call the film low budget. I was in the industry for over ten years as a location scout. This film has at least 40 to 50 locations. That's not cheap. It was obviously filmed in Jordan. Their currency is stronger than the US's. They used hotels, airports, helicopters, etc and had a ton of international actors and actresses. So my estimate is around $15million and that's not low budget.

Now onto the film. I'll keep it short and sweet. It's my favorite film of the year. I was on the edge of my seat from the first scene. There was nothing obvious about it. I adored the cast, specifically the top billed cast (Caviezel, Karvan, Ozsan, Savante), I thought the writing was very smart, and I loved the way it was shot. 10/10 from me.

Entertaining agitprop

[IBrakeForTrees · 7/10 · 16 May 2021]

As a disclaimer, as it seems to matter, I am not a Christian. I say that because Christians are giving Infidel "10" ratings for presumably religious reasons. Well, Infidel is an entertaining and perhaps informative movie, but it's not a 10. It's pretty much a 6 until the last 30 minutes, when the tension ratchets up -- so I gave it a 7.

Jim Caviezel, who has taken roles from Jesus to an ex-assassin, does a good job as a Christian blogger who is manipulated into being more proselytizing than he had originally intended. Other major characters, especially, Hal Ozsan in a love-to-hate role, are good. However, minor characters seem more like cardboard cutouts.

There is also a definite Muslims-are-evil vibe throughout the movie: Christians = good guys, Muslims = bad guys. It's not 100%, as there are 3 Muslims in the movie who don't hate Christians, but everyone else seems to. I also, personally, took exception to the blogger's stated belief that Christians and Muslims should unite against the real enemy, secularists. Oh, well, that was likely in character, as I've heard similar sentiments by other people who think their beliefs should be everybody's beliefs.

Infidel has a couple of "no, don't do that" moments that made me feel manipulated. The writers must have felt that having the blogger do things he shouldn't do or not do, and not say things he should have, helped their story. Meh, I think that's just lazy writing.

Anyway, entertaining, but hopefully will not become a viewer's main perspective on the Middle East.

Poorly executed plot

[santajc · 1/10 · 22 September 2020]

The scenes cut from one to the next with no emotion or purpose. At some points it just felt like a poor Christian propaganda movie. Would have been a decent watch if the production and plot were convincing and more creative. Poor directing.

Go watch this!

[robertsmichaele · 10/10 · 19 September 2020]

Well written and sad, funny along with a few surprises. Based on true events and you walk away making your own decisions

Fell Short of Potential, yet is definitely top shelf.

[haasese · 7/10 · 29 January 2021]

First of all, this is not a Christian movie. It is a movie about a Christian. If this had been a Christian movie I would rate it lower due to the minimal portrayal of the gospel. This movie presents a glimpse of the persecution awaiting true followers of Christ who refuse to recant their faith. Second, the MPAA rating is for language. The captors use a lot of F bombs. This is not a movie for younger children. Third, regardless of content, if you are a Jim Caviezel fan, you must have this for your collection.

Confused...

[MotherOfOreos · 5/10 · 5 December 2020]

Almost 2 hours of utter BS...offensive to the Middle East and to anyone who's lived between Muslims and Christians