Mohamed Diab exploits his film's restricted location with brio. And captures a searing snapshot of a divided nation.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 20, 2020

Clash - original title Eshtebak - is a terrific technical achievement and amazingly gripping, given the restricted setting.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 17, 2018

Arguably one of the most important Egyptian filmmakers currently working today, Mohamed Diab is an unflinching director who does not shy away from explicit commentary about current events in his homeland.

| Sep 5, 2018

Shocking and inventive, Clash is a fascinating and immersive watch that holds up its style of filming remarkably well.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 24, 2018

The van becomes a microcosm of the world outside: chaotic, out of control, cruel, but broken intermittently by glimpses of humour and humanity.

| Jul 24, 2018

[Director Mohamed] Diab (who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Khaled Diab) doesn't side with or against anyone ... [T]he filmmaker is on the side of humanity.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 15, 2017

It's not a pleasant ride-you'll be relieved when you can escape this patrol wagon from hell. But Diab has created a thought-provoking and timely hell all the same.

| Sep 15, 2017

Within this roiling Petri dish, the filmmakers cultivate a dynamic portrait of Egypt, with its dense social, political and religious layers.

| Sep 14, 2017

While there's not much room for character development amid the chaos, the unsettling film is provocative without resorting to heavy-handed contrivances.

| Sep 8, 2017

Intense, but tedious and ultimately fails to get inside the head of any of its characters.

| Original Score: 5.75/10 | Sep 3, 2017

Its limited point-of-view says enough to the original horror and poignantly makes humanity a non-political issue.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 25, 2017

A film like this needs its people to underline what it means to be human during times of political strife, but with so many bodies shoved inside the van, it's difficult to keep track of who's who and why they're mad.

| Aug 23, 2017

"Clash" turns into a full-fledged horror movie, albeit one without the fake comfort of a supernatural or science-fiction pretext. It's just man's inhumanity to man, in full sway.

| Aug 22, 2017

Diab encloses in a single stage space a range of characters to try to explain what happens in that country demonstrates how it has turned to immobility. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 1, 2017

An interesting film, with a little more sobriety and a more elaborate development, would have been excellent. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jun 8, 2017

With a unique scenario and maintaining a scrupulous point of view, the director manages to give voice to members of all political and religious factions. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jun 7, 2017

The film successfully speaks for itself as a cri de coeur for a nation in crisis.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 21, 2017

Challenging and provocative, but the limitations it places on itself restrict the appreciation for anyone not already steeped in its culture and politics.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 21, 2017

It's a tiny movie but it feels like a big deal.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 21, 2017

Mohamed Diab's superb Egyptian drama is set in the aftermath of the overthrow of President Morsi in 2013, with the army engaged in running battles on the streets with the pro-Morsi Muslim Brotherhood.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 20, 2017