Venice 2026: No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman (dir. Halkawt Mustafa) | Review
Kurdish Wonder Woman with a sniper makes a dazzling entry to Venice that brings women warfighters’ dignity and resilience to center stage.
Director Halkawt Mustafa’s gaze never leaves Kurdish soil. From Ronaldo (The Classic) (2015) to Saddam (Hiding Saddam Hussein) (2023), from encounters to safeguards, Mustafa has carved a cinema that is both fascinating and worthy. In this year’s Venice entry, Mustafa focuses on a woman in uniform — a warrior of immense strength.
Vyan (Avan Jamal) is not an ordinary civilian. She is a soldier armed with a sniper rifle, engaged in a mission to locate her sister, who was taken by ISIS. Despite the unpredictable threats that accompany her return to Mosul, she pursues her objective with unwavering focus.
At its heart, the film holds a Kurdish woman and the sniper she carries — not just as a weapon, but as her shield, her dignity, her weight of purpose. Beneath the rubble of ISIS control, we see the fighters and the victims. Their humanity still breathes, but their despair runs deeper than we remember. Piece by piece, we see the torture, the abuse, the resilience, with each detail amplified. It’s a portrait that demands a big screen, showing one woman’s fight against a force that threatens everything.
What really drives the film is the screenplay — it’s structured like a game simulation, pulling you in so deep you almost forget it’s fiction. But it’s based on real war, so it’s not that far off. There’s a bit of Sam Mendes’ 1917 in the way it follows her through quiet moments and tense ones. The director brings us to the real Mosul — not a set, but the bones of the city itself. Thanks to production designer Mikael Varhelyi, every frame breathes authenticity, and you can feel the weight of it — how terrifying, how real. The scars of the war are etched into every wall, into every face.
The film does not just show; it asks. Why is a woman reduced to a tool? Why do men see only opportunity when women are broken? Why are women usually erased from combat roles? And when will we finally see patriarchy for what it is — a virus that needs a cure?
Venice Out of Competition selection No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman is more than a war film. Vyan fights for her rights, pushes against the machine, and holds her ground — steady, determined, balancing chaos with will — it is a hymn to female fighters, to their pride, their gravity, their unbreakable will, and it will leave you breathless. The film gleams with cinematic wisdom, reminding us that warriors are not bound by gender, as patience and perseverance write their own language.
Through lines like “Good morning, I’m ready to sing” and “The enemy is deeply afraid of women, of life, of freedom,” the film shows that equality is measured by intellect, not physical strength. The film takes it further — strength is patience, is resilience, is the quiet fire that pushes life forward, through every return, until the enemy shakes, unaware of what’s coming.
The 83rd edition of the Venice International Film Festival is running on September 2-12, 2026.
