Film

Four Lions

Name: Four Lions
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Released: 2010
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak, Adeel Akhtar, Arsher Ali

Four Lions is Chris Morris's fearless black comedy about incompetent British jihadists whose grand plans collide with reality, personal grudges, and their own stupidity. It's funny, sad, and uncomfortably human—a film that treats extremism as a tragedy of ordinary people rather than monsters. For anyone who thinks satire should actually risk something.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like satire that stays with its characters' stupidity and sincerity even when the subject is grim, and you enjoy dialogue that is sharp, awkward and very funny in equal measure.

Skip it if you want comedy that stays comfortable, since the laughs here curdle often and the mood can feel uneasy for long stretches with little relief.

What it asks of you: Ninety-seven minutes, brisk and tightly plotted, with the attention needed to track several characters' petty rivalries and the lurch between broad slapstick and cold, sudden seriousness.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

In the Loop2009

Armando Iannucci's scabrous political satire shares Four Lions's willingness to find dark comedy in serious stakes. Sharp, profane, and genuinely angry beneath the laughs—it believes comedy is the right tool for difficult truths.

But The wall-to-wall insults and bureaucratic detail can feel exhausting rather than cathartic if you're not in the mood for sustained vitriol.

Trainspotting1996

Both films find tragicomedy in the lives of people society has written off, mixing energy and style with real despair. Danny Boyle's kinetic direction captures how mundane destruction can feel, much like Morris's approach to radicalization.

But The heroin addiction and sexual violence are depicted unflinchingly, and the film doesn't soften any of it for comfort.

This Is England2007

Shane Meadows explores radicalization and belonging through a skinhead subculture, finding unexpected tenderness and horror in the same moments. Like Four Lions, it refuses to dismiss its characters as simple villains.

But It's slower-paced and more melancholic than you might expect, trading laughs for sustained emotional discomfort.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Four Lions

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Come and See1985

Both trace how ordinary people are corrupted and destroyed by belief systems larger than themselves, but where Four Lions finds pathos and absurdity, Come and See finds only waste.

Elem Klimov's Soviet war film is the inverse of Four Lions: instead of comedy masking tragedy, it's pure tragedy presented with horrifying clarity. Both films understand that ideology destroys the people who hold it, but this one has no jokes to soften the impact.

But It's a relentless descent into atrocity. One of cinema's most harrowing experiences—not entertainment, and genuinely difficult to endure.

The Death of Stalin2017

Armando Iannucci returns with a satirical take on Soviet politics that uses the absurdity of power structures to say something genuine about ideology and ego. Same fearless approach, different regime.

But The rapid-fire dialogue and political references demand attention; it's easy to lose track of who's scheming against whom.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

Shane Black's Hollywood noir mixes noir tropes with self-aware comedy and sudden violence, finding laughs without losing stakes. It has Four Lions's tonal dexterity—funny and piercing at once.

But The clever-clever narration and meta-commentary can feel show-offy if you're not already charmed by Black's voice.

Withnail & I1987

A cult comedy about two incompetent men stumbling through a disastrous weekend, it captures the particular pathos of people deluded about their own competence. British, darkly funny, and weirdly moving.

But It's slow and talky, structured around conversations rather than plot. If you need momentum, you'll find it slack.

The Ladykillers2004

The Coen Brothers' remake finds dark comedy in a group of criminals whose plans unravel through incompetence and ego. It's lighter than Four Lions but shares the same DNA: bumbling villainy as tragedy.

But It leans harder into slapstick and broader comedy, sacrificing the emotional weight that makes Four Lions resonate.

Veep2012

Armando Iannucci's HBO series applies his scabrous satire to American politics. Sharp, fast, and ruthless about how power corrupts and incompetence rises—a perfect tonal match for what Morris does with ideology.

But Seven seasons is a commitment, and the show's relentless negativity can feel punishing rather than cathartic if you need hope.

God Bless America2012

Joel Murray in a revenge fantasy about American culture's ugliness. It shares Four Lions's willingness to dramatize radicalization with dark humor, though from the opposite political direction.

But The film's own misanthropy can feel adolescent and self-satisfied, lacking Four Lions's genuine compassion for its characters.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople2016

Both films argue that the people we're taught to dismiss are complex and worth caring about. Where Morris emphasizes the tragedy, Waititi insists on the possibility of grace.

Taika Waititi's film about an old man and a foster kid on the run in New Zealand wilderness balances humor and genuine warmth in ways that feel impossible. If you loved that Four Lions achieves real affection for its characters despite everything, this goes further—funny, tender, and entirely unashamed of it.

But The whimsy can feel calculated, and the tone-juggling occasionally lands awkwardly. It's not as structurally confident as Four Lions.

The Battle of Algiers1966

Both insist that understanding radicalization requires seeing the humanity in people we're supposed to hate, though Pontecorvo uses formal rigor where Morris uses comedy.

Gillo Pontecorvo's reconstruction of the Algerian uprising is a masterpiece of political cinema that refuses to caricature its characters. It dramatizes terrorism and counter-terrorism with absolute clarity and no editorializing—the opposite of Four Lions's comedy, but animated by the same impulse to treat ideology seriously.

But It's a formal, almost documentary approach to violence and politics. Shot in stark black and white, it can feel austere rather than engaging.