Fantasia XXX Review: In ATTACK ON PARADISE, Saïd Boumazoughe Leads A Formidable Action Triumph!
Attack On Paradise enjoyed its world premiere at the 30th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival.
For as long as I’ve been writing on this platform, it had to have been Gareth Huw Evans’ The Raid to set the bar for entertainment in action cinema. Charting a course through a gauntlet of killers up a building through multiple floors is a plot not unfamiliar to most consumers in this area of film, and I’m willing to bet director Bob Colears and actor Saïd Boumazoughe also fit the category, having crafted their own contribution to fans with their latest Belgian/Dutch action flick, Attack On Paradise.
Culminating things here are the story of an ex-con named Suleyman (Boumazoughe), fresh out from seven-year prison stint following a brush with a pair of dirty cops looking for trouble. Looking to matriculate back into mainstream society for his new lease on life, his first stop is to return home to surprise his ailing mother, Fatma (Fatima Khanfour) who now lives in the care of home nurse, Aïcha (Numidia El Morabet). Little does he know that not only did his yesteryear infraction garner him something of a reputation from the rambunctious locals, the tower block he once lived in is not the same as it used to be.
Alas, housed in the apex of the complex is notorious crimeboss and weapons marketeer Prince (Achmed Akkabi), now the subject of a tactical raid that soon gets botched as the Prince’s enforcers spot them. Meanwhile, Suleyman’s bittersweet reunion unravels into a race against time, between scrimmages from the basement and upward as he’s forced to fight his way through Prince’s henchmen to get Fatma’s medication while steering clear of the SWAT officers as they’re outmanned, outgunned, and looking to shoot down anyone who they suspect is part of the Prince’s network.
From that point on, the only person Suleyman may be able to trust is SWAT officer Yasmine (Clara Cleymans), as the two are caught in the crossfire. Nonetheless, the two must face down hallways of rampant killers, rabid junkies, and anyone eager to serve on the Prince’s behalf, including his handful of capos and their squads. For Suleyman though, having already paid his debt to society after a violent act, violence may be his only way to assure his mother’s safety and long-awaited return home whether he likes it or not.
Attack On Paradise shares similar color palates on a visual scale between exteriors and interiors like a lot of regional genre pieces. Compared to some of the daytime dilapidated urban atmospherics, the inner walls of the apartment building are drenched with contours of light and dark, with select portions in vast colors used to convey a much more grim, horrific millieu. Lights of varying colors and ultraviolet fixtures ignite the backdrop of the building’s seedier compartments, including a floor where sex work takes place; I’ll add here that nudity is as minimal as it gets as much as the focus is on the concurrent story and its main seller as a lean and palpable action flick.
I haven’t seen any of Boumazoughe’s filmography up to now, or that of Colears for that matter, so Attack On Paradise makes for a fine and fascinating intro into their work. I do want to point out though, that this shouldn’t be misconstrued as a rehash of a plot formula or an attempt of any kind to remake a classic. I have to iterate this, seeing is not a lot of people think before they opine on things and are quick write off anything they don’t immediately understand. That’s just a fact about the internet in 2026.
Rather, that’s not to say Attack On Paradise doesn’t try to leap off of similar energy as an inspired crowdpleaser. Boumazoughe, who co-wrote the pic, contributes a notable lead action role for Belgian filmgoers, worthy of empathy, particularly as the kind of protagonist that doesn’t always get championed enough in commercial action films, especially in the West. The sincerity and conviction in his acting is matched only by the threshold he pushes as well when it comes to the action. He’s fantastic so far in this trajectory, and wholly deserves to collaborate with any filmmaker who can help amplify that.
Sharing modest and workable chemistry with Cleymans who toughs out nearly any situation in her steadfast role. Their introductory moment together is a little worse for wear amid the circumstances and bullets flying in the midst but the walls finally come down in a crucial moment where they must rely on each other. There’s at least one scene where Yasmine ends up fighting someone in a room with a waterbed and a volley of dildos before resorting to a combo she teaches her daughter as a means of self-defense. The final blow after that is a little something extra in this instance which I thought was satisfying.
Akkabi does amply well in the role of a villain that I think even the late Ray Sahetapy would applaud, while co-star Salahdine Ibnou Kacemi adds a requisite dose of levity and aid to our protagonists for his limited screen time as a convenient store owner with a tricked out CCTV room. Other players include Dutch actress Imanuelle Grieves as one of the Prince’s subordinate enforcers, in addition to Belgian-Moroccan heavyweight champion kickboxer Jamal Ben Saddik as the Prince’s cousin and fighting progeny, The Lion.
The action is enough to warrant praise for the effort assembled by stunt and fight stewards Rafik Bobo and Marco Maas. The bulk of the action is situated in the film’s remaining hour for its 96-minute runtime and provides feasible balance, as well as brutality for an action thriller that mostly works, set to an EDM soundtrack that’s as trippy as most of the sets and set pieces.
One end of the film doesn’t get much resolve and feels like an incumbent easter egg to tease what could happen in a sequel provided we had a post-credits scene that elucidates or even hints as much. At any rate, Attack On Paradise provides as much as you can expect from an action thriller that largely holds its own regardless of whatever comparisons you want to lend to it.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
