Backstabbing for Beginners

R

Released Apr 27, 2018

1 hr. 48 min.

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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39%

23 Reviews

Tomatometer

51%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Michael, a young United Nations employee, travels to Iraq with his mentor, who wants to show him how successful the UN's Oil-for-Food Program has been. When Michael gets a deeper look at the organization, he unveils a corruption conspiracy in which officials -- both inside and outside of the UN -- are skimming billions off the top of the aid meant for the Iraqi people.

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Premiered Jan 02

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Ann B

Much better than the reviews suggested! I liked the fact that it was based on actual events and followed the narrative arc of those events. Ben Kingsley is wonderful!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

E adoro filmes baseados em fatos reais! E achei o filme excelente! Mais excelente ainda é ver Theo James transitar entre personagens tão diferentes pelos quais ele tem optado após a saga Divergente!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There Was Improvement As The Story Delved Deeper In The Second Half. Unpacking More Intricacies Developed The Intrigue. I Stuck With It & Found It Opened Up The Issues Of Corruption By The United Nations (UN) In This Space..No Wonder USA Invaded, They Saw It As An Economy To Squander As Demonstrated By The UN.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

barry m

Very talky for a political thriller yet I still had a number of thoughts as follows: "Who is this guy? Who does he work for? Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Why is he doing that? Am I the only one who can't understand some of the accents?" and "Should I rewind that last scene? Nah, let it go and maybe you'll figure it out later." Which I never did.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

This was a very good movie and I wish more of these scandals were brought to light.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

Based on a bestselling memoir, Backstabbing for Beginners reveals the remarkable story behind one of the biggest modern political scandals. The film follows a young idealistic UN diplomat who's assigned to assist in the Iraq Oil for Food program, but he soon discovers that there's wide scale corruption. Starring Theo James and Ben Kingsley, the film has a pretty good cast that delivers strong performances. James and Kingsley have especially good chemistry, particularly in their tête-à-têtes about the realities of politics and diplomacy, which also speaks to the strength of the script in how it discusses the types of corruption that were going on and the moral compromises that were being made for "the greater good." However, at times it is a little vague about the deals being struck and who's on which side. Yet despite some problems, Backstabbing for Beginners is a compelling true life story.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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Per Fly

Director

Ben Kingsley

Pasha

Theo James

Michael

Jacqueline Bisset

Christina Dupre

Belçim Bilgin

Nashim

Rossif Sutherland

Trevor

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Backstabbing for Beginners: Trailer 1

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Chandler Levack

Globe and Mail

Whatever potential was evident in Soussan's source material is wasted on empty clichs and spoiler-alert casting.

Rated: 1/4

May 4, 2018

Full Review

Bruce DeMara

Toronto Star

Great title. Too bad what follows doesn't have the same insouciant charm.

Rated: 1.5/4

May 3, 2018

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Rex Reed

Observer

It involves so much internecine crime that it would be hard to understand under any circumstances, but this film is a drier head-scratcher than it needs to be.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 30, 2018

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Josh Goller

Spectrum Culture

Takes an unsexy geopolitical scandal and makes it even more drab.

Rated: 1.5/5

Jul 20, 2019

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Jason Best

Movie Talk

This is a fascinating, outrage-provoking story but director Per Fly's bid to turn it into a cloak-and-dagger thriller falls disappointingly flat.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 11, 2019

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Backstabbing for Beginners doesn't convey the complexities of this scandal nor the troubled, compromised humanity of its characters.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 27, 2018

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Synopsis

Michael, a young United Nations employee, travels to Iraq with his mentor, who wants to show him how successful the UN's Oil-for-Food Program has been. When Michael gets a deeper look at the organization, he unveils a corruption conspiracy in which officials -- both inside and outside of the UN -- are skimming billions off the top of the aid meant for the Iraqi people.

Director: Per Fly
Screenwriter: Per Fly, Daniel Pyne, Michael Soussan
Distributor: A24
Production Co: Creative Alliance, A24
Rating: R (Some Violence|Language Throughout)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 27, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 24, 2018

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