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The Fence

Play trailer The Fence 2025 1h 32m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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53% Tomatometer 15 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
A vast public works project in West Africa. Horn, the construction site manager, and Cal, a young engineer, share lodging behind the double gates of their compound. Leone, Horn's recent bride, comes to join them the same night that a man appears at the fence. His name is Alboury. Like a specter in the darkness, he demands the body of his brother who died earlier that day on the site. He will hound the two men all night long until they return it, as Leone watches the disaster play out before her.

Critics Reviews

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Guy Lodge Variety Both something old from her and something a bit new, “The Fence” isn’t a major Denis work: Its gear changes from arch, theatrical parable to supple mood piece aren’t smooth ones. But it gnaws steadily away at you. Sep 26, 2025 Full Review Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com Strong performances help give it a bit of form, but it doesn’t help that it also feels like a project with themes Denis has better explored in other projects. Sep 13, 2025 Full Review Vikram Murthi IndieWire Brooding sensuality courses through the atmosphere in “The Fence,” which partially compensates for the film’s stilted staging and clumsy, thesis-underlining dialogue. Rated: B- Sep 11, 2025 Full Review Nikki Baughan Screen International Essentially a four-handed chamber piece of sorts, this adaptation deals with powder-keg themes of the colonial psyche, racial tensions and retribution, but ultimately proves too stilted and stagey to pack much of a punch. Sep 25, 2025 Full Review Vadim Rizov Filmmaker Magazine The Fence seems to be an inexplicably faithful adaptation of a bad play. Sep 24, 2025 Full Review Rachel Ho Exclaim! Denis hampers The Fence with its stage origins, offering her actors stilted dialogue that never takes any form. Sep 17, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

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Claire Denis

Director

Isaach de Bankolé

Actor

Matt Dillon

Actor

Mia McKenna-Bruce

Actor

Tom Blyth

Actor

Andrew Litvack

Screenwriter
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The Fence

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Movie Info

Synopsis A vast public works project in West Africa. Horn, the construction site manager, and Cal, a young engineer, share lodging behind the double gates of their compound. Leone, Horn's recent bride, comes to join them the same night that a man appears at the fence. His name is Alboury. Like a specter in the darkness, he demands the body of his brother who died earlier that day on the site. He will hound the two men all night long until they return it, as Leone watches the disaster play out before her.
Director
Claire Denis
Producer
Olivier Delbosc
Screenwriter
Andrew Litvack, Suzanne Lindon, Claire Denis
Production Co
Vixens, Curiosa Films, Saint Laurent Productions, Arte France Cinéma
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 32m