Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Intimate Enemies

Play trailer Poster for Intimate Enemies Released Oct 2, 2009 1h 48m Drama War Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
57% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 65% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A French platoon fights in the Algerian war.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Intimate Enemies

Critics Reviews

View All (14) Critics Reviews
Mike Hale New York Times A movie you've seen before, when it was set on the Apache reservation or in the Vietnamese jungle. Rated: 2/5 Oct 2, 2009 Full Review V.A. Musetto New York Post Along the way, Siri exposes French hypocrisy -- showing that the Algerian rebels were only doing what the French Resistance did in battling the Nazis who ruled their country in WorldWar II. Rated: 3/4 Oct 2, 2009 Full Review Nick Pinkerton Village Voice With its sententious air of historical reckoning, Enemies is an impressive monument, but not a moving one. Sep 29, 2009 Full Review Anton Bitel Film4 a no-holds-barred history with alarming lessons for the current 'War on Terror'. Rated: 4/5 Jan 17, 2008 Full Review Denis Seguin Screen International Pulls no punches in its depiction of the gruesome nature of guerilla warfare and the ensuing decay of morality. Oct 6, 2007 Full Review Barbara Goslawski Boxoffice Magazine Truly unforgettable and revelatory, L'Ennemi intime presents a rare glimpse into the realities of war in all its gory detail, tempered with a heartbreaking insight into our inescapably frail human consciousness. Rated: 3.5/5 Sep 22, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (98) audience reviews
Audience Member The Devil all The Time is a psychological thriller by director Antonio Campos. The characters of the film are played by well-known actors: Bill Skarsgard, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Jason Clarke, Mia Vasikowska, Sebastian Stan, Eliza Scanlen, Harry Melling, Haley Bennett and Riley Keough. It seemed to me that the plot is not very predictable, but very heavy, the faint of heart shouldn't watch this! A film is about religion, that there are people who hide behind faith in order to do evil. I was very impressed with the quality of the shooting (it was spectacular) , as well as the convincing acting. Actors conveyed all the emotions of their characters. Watching this movie you live with the characters every moment. Actors have shown that they can handle any role. The film keeps you on your toes until the very end. To sum up, I want to say that you mustn't miss this movie. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member A new commanding officer gets in deep, and finds out what counter-insurgency is like in 1950's Algeria. The trip down the rabbit hole is cynical and well-shot. An intimate and existential drama from France? You don't say! "A no-holds-barred history with alarming lessons for the current 'War on Terror'". -Anton Bitel, Film4 "Pulls no punches in its depiction of the gruesome nature of guerrilla warfare and the ensuing decay of morality." -Denis Seguin, Screen International Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A good look at the Algerian fight for independance from France. You've sadly seen the same story before, but it is still a reminder of yet another country fighting to hold onto others they've claimed as their own. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Intimate Enemies, if ever there was a movie that was anti war then this this is it. An extremely well written, acted and directed film of the highest quality about the French pacification of Insurgents in French Algiers during the fight for Algerian Independence. This movie makes no apologies and is in your face about the atrocities committed by both sides and dispels all naive misconceptions of the cliché of the good guys vs. the bad guys. In war there is no honor, no glory and certainly no heroes, only victims. Even the best intentions, the highest moral and ethical conduct can be subverted and twisted over time into the most perverse vile and despicable actions by good men. "I looked into the face of the enemy and he is me" truer words have never been spoken. Be forewarned, this movie is not light viewing but graphic, violent and bloody. The mighty mighty c Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Great War movie. Finally watched it on Netflix. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member It´s 1959 during the Algerian War. Lieutenant Terrien (Benoît Magimel), an inexperienced and naïve junior French Army officer, has volunteered for active service, rather than a safe staff post in Algiers. He is posted to Kabylie, a remote and mountainous region of Algeria, as a replacement for Lieutenant Constantin (Hicham Hlimi) who was killed during a 'friendly fire' incident commanding a counter-insurgency ambush operation - i.e. he was accidentally killed by his own side during a confused fire-fight. The war in Algeria is much more complicated than Lieutenant Terrien anticipated as he takes over command of his new platoon at the outpost "Mazel". Within hours of taking over his new command Terrien is ordered to lead a 'locate and destroy' mission into the zone interdite (the 'Forbidden Zone') to find a World War II French Army veteran named Slimane, now a local commander of Algerian rebels trying to win the independence of their homeland. When the Fellagha (Algerian insurgents) massacre the population of a local village in retaliation for a patrol visit from Terrien's platoon, on the assumption that the villagers may have collaborated with the French, Terrien vows to remain calm and professional despite the appalling horrors that greet him. Terrien saves a young boy from drowning in the village well and is gradually forced to see the conflict through the eyes of that child: a child who temporarily adopts the French soldiers almost as a surrogate family. Terrien's determination to remain detached, professional and controlled despite the atrocities that occur around him, including the torture, abuse and summary execution of Algerian prisoners, quickly gains him the initial contempt of Sergeant Dougnac (Albert Dupontel) his combat-hardened and cynical platoon sergeant, who has come to the conclusion that the level of violence employed by the Fellaghas can only be countered by equally brutal measures applied by the French. Lost in an undeclared and dirty war, Terrien and Dougnac discover that their worst enemy is often themselves... This movie is quite interesting from a historical point of view and you seldom hear about the Algerian War, but I assume that this is not something the french want to really acknowledge as it wasn´t until the 90s France confessed that this war actually happened. I reckon this could be seen as the french "Vietnam" war, with similar atrocities from both sides who were engaged in this war. Thus you can´t point out the "bad guys" which gives a good balance to the movie. Being a french production this is wellmade, accurate in terms of equipment and weapons, wellacted (even if it´s not maybe 100% convincing all along the way), great settings and stunning environments. Compared to a lot of "normal" war movies, we see several scenes were the soldiers are endlessly trudging through the mountains looking for an elusive enemy with no apparent end in sight, which is I guess more true to the reality than constant battlescenes. "Intimate Enemies" (L'ennemi Intime) is good in my point of view. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Intimate Enemies

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

A Woman in Berlin 82% 72% A Woman in Berlin Watchlist Son of a Lion 89% 72% Son of a Lion Watchlist Free Men 76% 65% Free Men Watchlist The Colditz Story % 72% The Colditz Story Watchlist Silent Sonata 75% 62% Silent Sonata Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A French platoon fights in the Algerian war.
Director
Florent Emilio Siri
Producer
François Kraus, Denis Pineau-Valencienne
Screenwriter
Patrick Rotman, Florent Emilio Siri
Distributor
Outsider Pictures
Production Co
Les Films du Kiosque
Genre
Drama, War
Original Language
Arabic
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 2, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 22, 2016
Runtime
1h 48m
Most Popular at Home Now