Traitors

2013

1h 23m

Drama

List

Reviews

73%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

A musician (Chaimae Ben Acha) agrees to smuggle a drug shipment for some quick cash, but when she meets her traveling companion (Soufia Issami), a captive drug mule, she vows to free her from enslavement to the dealers.

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Nick Schager

Village Voice

Traitors operates according to a standard drug-smuggling-drama template, though it colors its familiar elements with just enough distinctive personality to allow it to stand on its own.

Mar 10, 2015

Full Review

Boyd van Hoeij

Hollywood Reporter

A rare genre film from the Maghreb that centers on a female universe, Traitors benefits immensely from a spiky lead turn from newcomer Chaimae Ben Acha, whose innate charisma helps paper over the film's at times overly familiar plot twists.

Feb 17, 2015

Full Review

Leslie Felperin

Variety

Gullette strains to make the outcome upbeat, which damages credibility somewhat. Still, lead thesp Chaimae Ben Acha has charisma, and the pic makes the most of a manifestly low budget.

Feb 17, 2015

Full Review

Marshall Fine

Hollywood & Fine

There are not a lot of actual incidents in the film: no chases or shootouts. Yet Gullette creates real tension, through silences, quiet encounters with the drug lord and the extremely expressive face of Ben Acha.

Mar 10, 2015

Full Review

Kenneth R. Morefield

Christianity Today

Takes some unexpected turns in its last act.

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 4, 2015

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Mark Adams

Screen International

A slick and spiky drama that presents an alternate view of life for young people in Morocco.

Feb 17, 2015

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jake s

An interesting looking into the social scene of the Moroccan youth, which is surprisingly not just kids hiding in their homes trying avoid being beheaded.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

walter m

At 25, Malika(Chaimae Ben Acha), neither gainfully employed or married, is something of a disappointment to her parents, especially for her mechanic father. But what really matters to her is her band and they may have finally gotten their break, with Jade(Morjana Alaoui), a music promoter, showing interest in them. However, Malika and her bandmates still have to come up with the money to rent a recording studio in Casablanca. And then an opportunity presents itself when she repairs Samir's(Mourade Zeguendi) car. "Traitors" is a perceptive and occasionally suspenseful character study about Malika who has learned over time to navigate the unwritten rules of her home country while finding the importance in sisterhood.(That being said, there is a long way to go from street smart to Jim Phelps.) It is not really a coincidence that Malika gets involved with drug smugglers at this particular junction. The opportunity to make this kind of quick dangerous money probably comes often to her; this is just when it is the most needed and probably the best worst idea. This all happens in a country, Morocco, that is caught uncomfortably between the traditions of Africa and the temptations of Europe.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Set in Morocco, a young woman who is desperately trying to raise money to record a demo for a music producer with her all girl punk rock band, decides to take up a drug dealer's offer to drive a car full of cocaine. Structurally speaking, the film is made up of an impressive solidity which keeps the film interesting on a narrative level throughout. Morjana Alaoui is a remarkable presence, and her passion for the punk culture as well as the frustration as the place she lives in sets up good elements within the cultural culture which, nevertheless, remains disappointingly understated in favour of what then turns out to be a more conventional crime drama which aims to entertain. The main problem with that, however, is Gullette's inability to truly create a tense atmosphere to make it work on that level. Furthermore, Traitors shares a lot of the elements of Maria Full of Grace, a film which it resembles and which was much better and more emotionally rewarding both as a thriller and as a drama.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Sean Gullette

Director

Chaimae Ben Acha

Malika

Soufia Issami

Amal

Mourade Zeguendi

Samir

Driss Roukhe

Haj

Nadia Niazi

Rokia

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Synopsis

A musician (Chaimae Ben Acha) agrees to smuggle a drug shipment for some quick cash, but when she meets her traveling companion (Soufia Issami), a captive drug mule, she vows to free her from enslavement to the dealers.

Director: Sean Gullette
Screenwriter: Sean Gullette
Production Co: Kasbah Films, White Light White Heat
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Arabic
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 5, 2015
Runtime: 1h 23m

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