Even if you think metal is just noise – or the devil’s music – this fascinating, unflinching, fly-on-the-wall tale of a band trying to make it under extreme circumstances makes for entertaining viewing.

| Mar 25, 2025

Sirens is an enjoyable documentary about Lebanon’s only all-female, queer heavy metal band, following them as they overcome political unrest and personal tensions.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 25, 2024

In opening the door for this particular siren call, Baghdadi lets in the voices of every unheard youth and adult, yearning for their chance to make something with their lives.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 3, 2024

Sirens is a compassionate movie that expresses the frustrations that these women go through in their lives while shining a light on their togetherness.

| Sep 8, 2023

If someone had told me one of my favorite films from Sundance would be about a thrash metal band in Lebanon, I wouldn’t have believed them. But Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens—executive produced in part by Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne—is one of the rare...

| Original Score: A | Jan 10, 2023

Truth be told, some more focus on the rest of the members of the group would also be welcome here, but in the end, “Sirens” emerges as an excellent documentary that manages to present the story of the group and its members rather eloquently

| Original Score: 7 | Dec 26, 2022

Amid a revolution in the Middle East, friendship, love, and thrash metal clash in Rita Baghdadi’s spirited documentary. Rock on!

| Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 8, 2022

I鈥檇 have liked to hear more of their music, with its very tight thrashy sound鈥攂ut the film ultimately rewards in its decision to focus more on the personal and the political.

| Oct 14, 2022

[Baghdadi] has carved an entertaining, if modest, film about female friendship under pressure and a film about the desire for musical fame unlike too many before.

| Oct 14, 2022

At its core, Sirens wants you to know just how much extraneous pressure these girls are facing at all ends, and bullseyes its target from start to finish.

| Oct 7, 2022

There's a poetic nature to the whole too as Baghdadi avoids strict narrative plotting for emotional through lines. She shows just enough via expressions, body language, and actions to understand motivations and attitudes.

| Original Score: B | Oct 7, 2022

Slave to Sirens鈥� music encapsulates the rage captured inside of themselves and their country; being unable to speak their truth, the anger explodes within their music. But the beauty of Sirens lies in the moments of vulnerability

| Oct 6, 2022

Lyrical coming-of-age tales are a dime a dozen at Sundance, where “Sirens” premiered at the beginning of the year, but few such films are as impressive as this one.

| Oct 1, 2022

Its endearing subjects and unique cultural perspective infuse the more standard rock-doc elements with a rooting interest that avoids cheap marketing or heavy-handed messaging.

| Sep 30, 2022

A collage of yearning, ambition, and what can only be called gumption.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 30, 2022

The ending... is heart-tugging and rousing, even for non-metal heads.

| Sep 29, 2022

You don't have to be a fan of heavy metal to be captivated by this moving, intimate and provocative documentary

| Sep 29, 2022

I’m a sucker for documentaries about punk, metal, or really any other musical genre popping up in places you don’t normally expect.

| Original Score: A | Aug 8, 2022

Sirens sings loudly, finding a tender heart beating profoundly alongside with the cacophony of rage and fury that punctutates the soundtrack.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 7, 2022

An enjoyable chick flick.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 23, 2022