Meddour elaborates with a critical eye and a certain subtlety a text about the struggle of women in times of patriarchal oppression by Islamic radicalism during the Algerian Civil War. Full review in Spanish

| Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 14, 2022

There is no subtlety in Meddour's characterizations nor hint of intelligence in how she tackles Islamic radicalism, which is personified by a bunch of liberal men-hating women and women obsessed with having every girl in the country veiled.

| Jul 3, 2021

... cinematography by Léo Lefèvre underlines Nedjima's creativity, in particular her eye for color in the fabrics she selects ... and the costumes by Catherine Cosme will convince you that Nedjima truly has a talent for fashion design.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 27, 2020

Meddour proves to be a potent storyteller with her first film feature and I'm excited to see the next project she decides to tackle.

| Oct 8, 2020

Meddour beautifully guides the viewer across the disconcerted emotions. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Aug 31, 2020

An essential work to understand the fight carried by Arabic women.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 27, 2020

It's easy to get engulfed by the fury of [Meddour's] helplessness and his rare intensity. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 27, 2020

Papicha is urgently shot like a cross between an emotional drama and a fascinating documentary.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 21, 2020

It's gorgeously written and directed by Mounia Meddour, revealing details of life and culture that are earthy and honest.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 13, 2020

The actresses are bright and convincing, and the characters' upbeat moments are brought to us in fizzy style, with nothing sickly in the mix.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 10, 2020

It's a highly impressive first feature for writer-director Mounia Meddour. I admired it greatly.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 10, 2020

Meddour builds to a bold ending that's all the more powerful for how shocking it is.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 9, 2020

While the final act frays a little, the sparking tensions of female friendship are vivid and persuasive.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 8, 2020

Can't wait to see more from Meddour, this is seriously powerful filmmaking.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 6, 2020

Like its magnetic lead, the film is alternately warm and viscerally angry, with scant patience for nuance.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 5, 2020

There is a scattershot emotional rhetoric here - but also idealism, and emotional force.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 5, 2020

[Director Mounia] Meddour intelligently takes advantage of the semantic field of fashion - Nedjma, played by Lyna Khoudri, wants to be a designer- to reflect on the fragility of women's freedom. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 3, 2020

It's a journey that's impossible not to become intensely emotionally invested in, and rising star Khoudri turns in a genuinely fierce performance...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 3, 2020

A quieter film might have made its points more powerfully; Papicha has a worthy message, but almost no dramatic restraint in delivering it.

| Jun 12, 2020

Strong performances, including from lead Lyna Khoudri, go a long way towards enlivening Meddour's film with an intimacy which is sometimes hobbled by ever widening clichés to enhance the tragedies of its finale.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 4, 2020