Backstabbing for Beginners

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1:41

Backstabbing for Beginners

R

2018

1h 48m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Popcornmeter

41%

Tomatometer

22 Reviews

52%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

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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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

Full Review

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

Full Review

Josh Goller

Spectrum Culture

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

Rated: 1.5/5

Jul 20, 2019

Full Review

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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Sean M

Can’t understand why this movie doesn’t have a higher rating. It’s a genre flick of course - international diplomacy and subterfuge isn’t for everyone but the story and acting was great as was the scenery and cinematography.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/15/25

Full Review

Stoner J

A decent governmental spy thriller. Ain’t the best, but not as bad as the critics would have you think. It was a good watch

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/17/25

Full Review

Georgan G

Tells a complex story about corporations & rich men getting greedier than usual. Horrifying in it's details.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/26/24

Full Review

Lanfranco C

Sometime boring, but a little light on a big scandal: the oil for food program

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/31/24

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

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Per Fly

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Backstabbing for Beginners: Trailer 1

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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
Producer: Malene Blenkov, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Daniel Bekerman, Nikolaj Vibe Michelsen
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
Runtime: 1h 48m

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