'
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Once Upon a Time in Gaza

Play trailer Poster for Once Upon a Time in Gaza 2025 1h 30m Drama Crime Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 9 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
Gaza, 2007. Yahya, a young student, forges a friendship with Osama, a charismatic restaurant owner with a big heart. Together, they start peddling drugs while delivering falafel sandwiches, but they are soon forced to grapple with a corrupt cop and his oversized ego....

Critics Reviews

View All (9) Critics Reviews
Yasmine Kandil Little White Lies The melodrama derives from rich cultural specificity that lends itself well to this tale of love, loss, and unrest. May 27, 2025 Full Review Ben Kenigsberg RogerEbert.com Structurally, “Once Upon a Time in Gaza” is pretty rough (the two halves aren’t tied together well), but the lurching, unpredictable nature of the narrative is of a piece with the movie’s subject and setting. May 21, 2025 Full Review Jordan Mintzer The Hollywood Reporter Small-scale yet broad in its implications, especially considering what’s happened since October 7th, Once Upon a Time in Gaza touchingly portrays characters doing their best in a place that grants them few options and even fewer opportunities. May 19, 2025 Full Review Wael Khairy The Cairo Scene With Once Upon a Time in Gaza, the Nasser brothers pull off something so rare. They created a film that is both unflinching and unexpectedly uplifting. It demands to be seen. Jun 1, 2025 Full Review John Bleasdale Next Best Picture This is a well-made and thoroughly entertaining thriller/dramedy that evokes a lost Palestinian city that has been destroyed before our eyes. Rated: 7/10 May 24, 2025 Full Review Ezequiel Boetti Otroscines.com ...Once Upon a Time in Gaza manages to make the viewer empathize with its outcast couple, at the same time, it acquires new meanings stemming from the stage of war with Israel that began in the final months of 2023. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/5 May 19, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew

Tarzan Nasser

Director

Arab Nasser

Director

Nader Abd Alhay

Yahya

Ramzi Maqdisi

Abou Sami

Majd Eid

Osama

Issaq Elias

Le réalisateur
View All Once Upon a Time in Gaza photos

Once Upon a Time in Gaza

View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Gaza, 2007. Yahya, a young student, forges a friendship with Osama, a charismatic restaurant owner with a big heart. Together, they start peddling drugs while delivering falafel sandwiches, but they are soon forced to grapple with a corrupt cop and his oversized ego....
Director
Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser
Producer
Rani Massalha, Muriel Merlin, Marie Legrand
Screenwriter
Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser
Production Co
Jordan Pioneers, Riva Film, Made in Palestine Project , Ukbar Filmes, Les Films du Tambour
Genre
Drama, Crime, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Arabic
Runtime
1h 30m