City of Ghosts

There is a useful directness to City of Ghosts, a documentary shaped by Matthew Heineman with a firm understanding of its audience. In City of Ghosts, Abdelaziz Alhamza provides the anchor while Mohamad Almusari introduces a contrasting energy. Without revealing later complications, City of Ghosts opens from this situation: The anonymous activists who exposed ISIS atrocities in Raqqa. The resulting its 1h 32m running time feels most convincing whenever City of Ghosts trusts behaviour more than explanation.

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At story level, City of Ghosts turns ISIS and Raqqa into the source of its main tension. The role played by Abdelaziz Alhamza becomes the viewer's route through City of Ghosts, especially when Follows the begins to alter the situation. Abdelaziz Alhamza gives City of Ghosts momentum by allowing choices to create consequences instead of treating each scene as isolated information. Even when the central character pushes the plot toward familiar ground, City of Ghosts remains attentive to what that pressure means for its characters.

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Abdelaziz Alhamza gives City of Ghosts its most dependable performance, finding a clear emotional intention beneath the plot. Opposite Abdelaziz Alhamza, Mohamad Almusari brings City of Ghosts a contrasting pace that prevents the central relationship from feeling flat. Hamoud Almousa widens the ensemble of City of Ghosts through reactions that suggest a life beyond the immediate scene. Matthew Heineman serves the cast of City of Ghosts best when a look or pause is allowed to finish before the story moves on.

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City of Ghosts benefits from Matthew Heineman being controlled while retaining warmth about what each sequence needs to accomplish. Instead of making every beat equally loud, Matthew Heineman lets City of Ghosts create contrast between pressure and release. The strengths comfortably outweigh the small reservations throughout City of Ghosts, with the strongest decisions feeling connected to character rather than display. It is still fair to say that City of Ghosts suffers because a middle passage could be slightly leaner, but the problem remains contained.

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The craft of City of Ghosts is defined by patient observation, supported by patient observation rather than overwhelmed by decoration. Our Time Projects gives City of Ghosts a production framework in which carefully chosen testimony can remain connected to story. Made from a United States production context, City of Ghosts uses setting and design to clarify mood before dialogue has to explain it. The technical finish of City of Ghosts works because image, sound and editing appear to be serving the same immediate purpose.

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Beneath its plot, City of Ghosts is most interested in the tension between public stories and private experience. That concern becomes visible through Abdelaziz Alhamza, whose choices allow City of Ghosts to explore an idea without stopping for a speech. ISIS gives the themes of City of Ghosts a concrete dramatic form rather than leaving them abstract. The emotional value of City of Ghosts grows whenever Matthew Heineman trusts the audience to connect behaviour with the larger question.

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Overall, City of Ghosts amounts to one of the stronger examples of its form and should suit viewers who enjoy thoughtful factual storytelling. The combination of Abdelaziz Alhamza, Matthew Heineman and patient observation gives City of Ghosts a specific identity. Although a middle passage could be slightly leaner in City of Ghosts, the film recovers through craft and committed performance. For the audience it understands, City of Ghosts offers enough character to remain worthwhile after the immediate plot has faded.