Film Review: ATTACK ON PARADISE: This Action Picture is Relentless, Yet Intriguing, Chaos [Fantasia 2026]

Attack on Paradise Review

Attack on Paradise (2026) Film Review from the 30th Annual Fantasia Film Festival, a movie directed by Bob Colaers, written by Saïd Boumazoughe, Sven Huybrechts and Salahdine Ibnou Kacemi and starring Saïd Boumazoughe, Clara Cleymans, Achmed Akkabi, Imanuelle Grives, Soroush Helali, Ben Segers, Fatima Khanfour, Ward Kerremans and Gert Winckelmans.

Filmmaker Bob Colaers’s tense action thriller, Attack on Paradise, is a movie in the vein of Enemy Territory or The Raid and has some well-crafted, chaotic action set pieces that will work for fans of those action-packed movies. Saïd Boumazoughe co-wrote and stars in the picture as a man named Suleyman. You could consider him a mama’s boy as he spends most of the movie trying to keep his mother. Fatma (Fatima Khanfour), safe from those threatening characters who inhabit the building the mom lives in. There’s a lot more going on in terms of the plot development, but the loyalty Suleyman has to his mom could be more than a bit inspiring to some audience members.

This film opens with Suleyman going to prison for 7 years after an unfortunate series of events. Suleyman is not a true criminal in the real sense of the word and actually has morals that shape his personality. When Fatima’s building is occupied by criminals and police officers who clash in an effort to bring down the notorious drug lord, Prince (Achmed Akkabi), Suleyman encounters an honorable officer named Yasmine (Clara Cleymans), who for all intents and purposes, is the love interest for Suleyman that a movie like this thrives on in order to exist.

Also factoring into the movie is Imanuelle Grives’ character, Nikita, who gets some of the movie’s best minutes to claim. Grives is fierce and gives the movie a kick-ass feel that doesn’t let go of the viewer in some of its strongest and most intense moments within the film.

Enemy Territory came out in 1987 but feels like an inspiration for the events that transpire in Attack on Paradise, a film that is just as relentless and just as inspired as the aforementioned movie. Imagine being stuck in a building where all hell is breaking loose and fighting for survival against the odds and you get an idea of what the new film is trying to accomplish with its dazzling action sequences. This is the type of timeless plot that fuels nightmares and makes for really entertaining cinematic, albeit violent, set pieces.

The real surprise is the quality of the development between Suleyman and Yasmine. Both characters have real subtext in terms of the creation of their backstories. Suleyman is the everyman, the guy who would be the perfect citizen if his bad luck didn’t get in the way of his success. Yasmine is the professional who doesn’t give into her dark side and looks down upon the crooked criminals who threaten her very survival.

Achmed Akkabi is well-cast as the wicked Prince. Akkabi doesn’t pull any punches with his no-holds-barred turn here. There are a great number of face/off scenes that add to the flavor that is sprinkled throughout Attack on Paradise. If you have seen The Raid, you know what you’re going to get with this new picture and that’s mind-numbing chaos with a very dark edge.

For all intents and purposes, Attack on Paradise works because of the quality of Saïd Boumazoughe’s earnestness, not only in terms of his sharp writing, but in his performance as Suleyman. That mother/son dynamic showcased in the film really drives home the action and it gives Suleyman a unique quality as a character. Here’s a guy who has been unfairly treated by life working hard to make sure his ailing mother survives amidst chaotic violence. Suleyman wants her to be comfortable in her life before the raid and then feels an overwhelming need to protect her any cost.

There is a switch between face/off scenes and smart interaction between Suleyman and Yasmine. This film’s action can be contagious in that the viewer should be on pins and needles waiting to see what will happen next as our heroes narrowly escape one close call after another.

Attack on Paradise is flawed. It comes across as too much of a genre picture and is very broad in terms of some of its themes which it oversimplifies to fit the basic needs of the storyline. Too many twists are thrown in willy-nilly, and the final half hour is too intense for its own good at times, putting our heroes’ lives in jeopardy for the sake of creating wild scenarios that are only mildly believable. If you check your brain at the door, you’re more likely to enjoy the film’s violent plot twists.

Attack on Paradise is a cleverly designed star vehicle to strut Saïd Boumazoughe’s talents and Clara Cleymans certainly doesn’t disappoint beside him. This is the type of action thriller that may feel like it has been done before, but not quite in this exact exciting way. One will revel in the nail-biting action that saturates this solid new entry in the vein of the classic film, Enemy Territory.

Rating: 7/10

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