Hyenas

Play trailer

Hyenas

Released Sep 18, 1992

1h 50m

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

After being kicked out of her African village three decades earlier for getting pregnant out of wedlock, Linguere (Ami Diakhate) has returned home. While Linguere has done well for herself, her home village has fallen on hard economic times. Intent on punishing Dramaan (Mansour Diouf), the man who fathered her child but refused to own up to the act, Linguere makes a proposal: She will help the town financially, if the locals agree to execute Dramaan.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Mambety doesn’t just point to the evil but fully implicates himself in it–as is shown by the fact that he himself plays the former judge now working as a servant to the rich. Maybe he’s saying something about making movies as well.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 7, 2022

Full Review

Jake Wilson

The Age (Australia)

Mambety makes the source material his own, in vivid, witty images.

Jul 18, 2020

Full Review

John DeFore

The Hollywood Reporter

A wicked skewering of both the rich and those who seek their handouts.

Apr 25, 2019

Full Review

Jas Keimig

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

The film falls somewhere between satire, drama, and comedy.

Feb 2, 2022

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

In Review Online

A haunting, dreamlike, often absurd morality play, told with roguish mischievousness that only Mambéty could conjure.

Nov 15, 2020

Full Review

John Beifuss

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

This comic masterpiece about a wealthy woman who plunges an African village into chaos is definite in its targets (the persistence of colonialism as consumerism, especially) but universal in its consideration of human existence as both tragedy and farce.

Rated: 4/4

Jun 22, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

martin f

One of the most beautiful movie to look, every scene is like an artistic photography. You can pause the movie anytime and you will still be able to find a perfectly composed picture with intense colors, beautiful costume, and interesting angle and depth. The streets of the very poor district of Colobane, can be chaotic, in ruins but they are filmed in a way that make them beautiful and rich. What seems to start as a comedy about a man too generous quickly turn in a dark essay about consumerism and justice. Dramaan, the main protagonist, is endearing, and it's difficult to see the movie follows his misery. In the light of some revelation, the movie also wants the viewers to ask themselves at what extends the Dramaan deserves his fate.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

tom e

The cinematography was the highlight of the movie. The message was so blatantly obvious the movie got tedious as I looked to find what I was missing. Thoroughly disappointed.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

corruption rears its ugly head

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Witty, colorful drama about a woman's plan to get revenge on the man and the town that mistreated her in her youth.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Great little movie about the revenge of a woman returning to her village in Senegal and the people of the village who are corrupted by greed.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A tale of revenge, greed and atonement. A fascinating, interesting film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Djibril Diop Mambéty

Director

Mansour Diouf

Dramaan

Ami Diakhate

Linguere Ramatou

Mamadou Mahouredia Gueye

The Mayor

Issa Ramagelissa Samb

The Professor

Faly Gueye

Mme. Drameh

Flirting

96%

76%

Flirting

Watchlist

Mississippi Masala

92%

64%

Mississippi Masala

Watchlist

Guelwaar

100%

86%

Guelwaar

Watchlist

Hero

67%

51%

Hero

Watchlist

Night on Earth

77%

91%

Night on Earth

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

After being kicked out of her African village three decades earlier for getting pregnant out of wedlock, Linguere (Ami Diakhate) has returned home. While Linguere has done well for herself, her home village has fallen on hard economic times. Intent on punishing Dramaan (Mansour Diouf), the man who fathered her child but refused to own up to the act, Linguere makes a proposal: She will help the town financially, if the locals agree to execute Dramaan.

Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty
Producer: Pierre-Alain Meier, Alain Rozanès
Screenwriter: Djibril Diop Mambéty, Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Distributor: Kino International Corp.
Production Co: ADR Productions, Thelma Film AG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Wolof
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 18, 1992, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Apr 26, 2019
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $18.9K
Runtime: 1h 50m
Sound Mix: Mono

Most Popular at Home Now