Syriana

Play trailer

Syriana

R

Released Dec 9, 2005

2h 8m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

196 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Ambitious, complicated, intellectual, and demanding of its audience, Syriana is both a gripping geopolitical thriller and wake-up call to the complacent.

Read Critics Reviews

Zadie Smith

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Syriana is an American movie that reaches out beyond itself. Watching it made me feel hopeful -- a rare sensation in a cinema.

Jan 17, 2018

Full Review

Victoria Segal

New Statesman

... If you can avoid getting too hung up on the details, Syriana is a brave attempt to blitz the goody-baddy dynamics of cold-war film-making and concentrate on the ambiguities of modern geopolitics.

Sep 26, 2017

Full Review

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

This is intelligent, committed, and politically provocative, though its narrative puzzle box may prompt you to throw up your hands and let ExxonMobil go on running the world.

Mar 30, 2009

Full Review

Michael Clark

Epoch Times

This movie is certainly not for all, or even most tastes. If you prefer something light, breezy, and uncomplicated, don’t even waste your time. It gets up in your face and under your skin and grows only more confrontational and damning as it progresses.

Rated: 5/5

May 13, 2022

Full Review

Micheal Compton

Bowling Green Daily News

A complex thriller that challenges its audience with a fascinating story woven among several plot threads.

Rated: A

Nov 19, 2019

Full Review

PJ Nabarro

Patrick Nabarro

I'm hard-pushed to think of a more cynical and self-critical American picture, and one that so radically and empathetically portrays the genesis of Islamic suicide bombers.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 16, 2018

Full Review

Read all reviews

Kal S

A remote control and a really switched on friend will be your biggest assets when watching this film, so you can keep pausing to ask, ‘Sorry, who is that guy again, and what did he just say? And what country are we in now?’ There’s a good film in there somewhere which will challenge your beliefs about the good guys and the bad guys—what a shame it got lost in its own cleverness.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/20/24

Full Review

David H

I enjoyed the film, but I found it a little hard to follow in places. Traffic was a better film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/14/23

Full Review

Jona I

Dizzying, which is some of the point. But there's still a difference between being effective and just plain ol' losing your audience in the maze of your own self-importance. A good performance from Clooney, but Oscar-winning???? .....Hmm. Methinks, they just wanted to honor him somehow for stepping up his game in the industry with all his directing and producing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/25/23

Full Review

Gareth v

An intellectual, though provoking film that revoles around three interwoven stories on the murky waters of geo-politics.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/29/23

Full Review

Barry B

Complex and well acted - an enjoyable and educational 2 hours of entertainment

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/09/23

Full Review

Evan M

It's alright but really not all that much happens. Plot is not nearly as great as it thinks it is.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/20/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Stephen Gaghan

Director

George Clooney

Robert Baer

Matt Damon

Bryan Woodman

Jeffrey Wright

Bennett Holiday

Amanda Peet

Julie Woodman

Chris Cooper

Jimmy Pope

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

The Constant Gardener

83%

82%

The Constant Gardener

Watchlist

Civic Duty

56%

33%

Civic Duty

Watchlist

The Good Shepherd

56%

51%

The Good Shepherd

Watchlist

A History of Violence

88%

76%

A History of Violence

Watchlist

TRAILER

for A History of Violence

Deception

10%

31%

Deception

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

New Certified Fresh Movies and TV to Stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime This Week

George Clooney on Combining Football and Screwball in Leatherheads

Box Office Guru Preview: Wide Open Race For #1 Spot This Weekend

View more photos

Synopsis

The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.

Director: Stephen Gaghan
Producer: George Clooney, Ben Cosgrove, Jennifer Fox
Screenwriter: Robert Baer, Stephen Gaghan, John Bowker
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Rating: R (Violence|Language)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 9, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $50.8M
Runtime: 2h 8m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Most Popular at Home Now