Backstabbing for Beginners

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1:41

Backstabbing for Beginners

R

Released Apr 27, 2018

1h 48m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Popcornmeter

41%

Tomatometer

22 Reviews

51%

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

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

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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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