Four Lions. Image shows from L to R: Waj (Kayvan Novak), Hassan (Arsher Ali), Omar (Riz Ahmed), Barry (Nigel Lindsay)
Four Lions

Four Lions

  • 2010 film

A film by Chris Morris mocking Islamic extremism and suicide bombers. It follows the exploits of four wannabe suicide bombers. Also features Riz Ahmed, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak, Adeel Akhtar, Arsher Ali and more.

  • JustWatch Streaming rank this week: 306

Press clippings

Alex Edelman in praise of Four Lions, 'the Muslim Blazing Saddles'

It feels like a movie that shouldn't work, but it does. You just hear the premise: a movie about five Muslim suicide bombers in the U.K. written by three white guys. You'd think it would be offensive, and you'd never believe it'd get made, but the fact that it's done with so much love and so much pathos, it felt very warm and handmade and loving, and it just seemed like it was a perfect high-risk-maneuver satire.

Ian Goldstein, Vulture, 22nd March 2022

Slow review - Four Lions

Tez Ilyas on a satire that showed up and also simply showed a British demographic.

Tez Ilyas, Tortoise, 17th August 2021

The oral history of Four Lions

A comedy about suicide bombers doesn't exactly jump off the page as a workable film idea. Yet in the 2000s, Chris Morris decided to spend years researching the subject to see if he could pull it off for his debut feature.

Daniel Dylan Wray, Vice.com, 30th July 2020

The best comedy films since 2000

30 films that define 21st-century big-screen comedy.

Jonathan Dean and Helen Hawkins, The Sunday Times, 7th June 2020

It's a good time to revisit Four Lions

To cope with the tragic international events of the last few weeks, let's all revisit Chris Morris' masterwork of dark, weirdly healing comedy.

Nathan Rabin, GQ, 22nd November 2015

Don't let terrorists win TV: we need to make Dad's Isis

Chris Morris's Four Lions stands alone in its bonkers brilliance. Those who care about culture should end this silent surrender and make some risky TV.

Marina Hyde, The Guardian, 20th November 2015

The best film about Islamic terroists is a comedy

Chris Morris' Four Lions, released four years ago, skewers the pointlessness and confusion of wannabe jihadists.

Sophie GIlbert, The Atlantic, 18th October 2014

Director/writer/comedy genius Chris Morris once said of this typically daring satire that he aimed to do for Islamic fundamentalist terrorism what Dad's Army did for the Nazis - to show them up as being 'scary but ridiculous'. So here we follow the bungling antics of a group of home-grown suicide bombers, intent on bringing a jihad, if they can only work out their AK-47s from their elbows. The brightest of the bunch is Omar (shining star Riz Ahmed), a devout, suburban Muslim with a loving, seemingly smart wife. A funny, transgressive and frequently perplexing watch.

Carol Carter and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro, 2nd October 2013

Film4 pulls Four Lions from schedule after bombings

Film4 has removed Four Lions from its schedule following the Boston Marathon attacks.

Tom Eames, Digital Spy, 16th April 2013

He would hate the term but Chris Morris is a 'national treasure'. From The Day Today to Brass Eye, the spiky satirist has created comedy that is ferocious, fearless, unique and still quintessentially British. His debut movie as writer/director is no different - a brilliantly judged farce about four hapless jihadists from Sheffield attempting to commit an act of terror, it somehow manages to be both cutting and charming. Nigel Lindsay's Barry is the pick of the hilarious quartet.

Colin Kennedy, Metro, 15th November 2011