{"id":4950,"date":"2026-07-26T17:44:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4950"},"modified":"2026-07-26T17:44:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:44:51","slug":"attack-on-paradise-review-under-siege-from-both-criminals-and-cops-a-hero-battles-upward-in-a-zesty-high-rise-actioner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4950","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Attack on Paradise\u2019 Review: Under Siege From Both Criminals and Cops, a Hero Battles Upward in a Zesty High-Rise Actioner"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tSa\u00efd Boumazoughe gets a \u201ccreated by\u201d credit just below director Bob Colaers at the end of \u201cAttack on Paradise,\u201d amplifying the fact that this project is very much the Belgian-Moroccan star\u2019s realized personal fantasy of an action vehicle. That translates into something a lot like \u201cDie Hard,\u201d with elements of \u201cAssault on Precinct 13,\u201d \u201cHigh Rise\u201d and more thrown in \u2014 albeit with a distinctly more diverse cast\/character roll call, reflecting both the actor\u2019s own background and Antwerp\u2019s multicultural modern reality.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4948\">\u2018No Rest for the Wicked\u2019 Review: A Supernatural Gay Love Story in a 19th-Century Backwater<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThat adjustment aside, there\u2019s nothing conceptually very original to this tale of a prodigal son returning to find his cranky old ma requiring rescue from both organized crime and a police raid. But it\u2019s got energy and style to spare, making for a genre exercise whose pleasures considerably outweigh its familiarity. If Belgian action cinema is probably not going to be the next big thing, nonetheless this highly enjoyable, good-humored effort should help it make some headway abroad.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tLanky, hoody-clad Suleyman (Boumazoughe) is minding his own business walking home one night when a car nearly runs into him, triggering some choice words. Unfortunately the unmarked vehicle\u2019s drivers are cops all too willing to arrest and pin dubious charges on their non-white, gangbanger-looking quarry. Seven years later, our hero gets released from prison. He heads straight to infirm mother Fatma (Fatima Khanfour), who turns on a dime from tears of joy at this return to slap-happy rage over his \u201cabandonment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut all too soon, there are far worse perils to worry about. In his absence, the housing project Suley grew up in got taken over by the crime boss known as Prince (Achmed Akkabi). That international fugitive from justice has turned its seventeen stories into his personal underworld HQ. Police have until now treated this illicit empire as a \u201cno-go zone.\u201d Today, however, they\u2019re finally executing a long-planned raid to seize the boss, shut down his operations, and put everybody in prison\u2014though apparently racking up casualties is expected, even encouraged.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAlas, the bad guys are very well prepared for just such an occasion, in terms of surveillance cameras as well as heavy artillery. Worse yet for our protagonist, this battle kicks off just moments after his maternal reunion, when he\u2019s gone to the building\u2019s basement to retrieve belongings in storage. The mayhem is so immediately widespread, simply getting back up to mom\u2019s flat proves life-threatening.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4946\">\u2018Am I Supposed to be a Comedian?\u2019: Donald Trump\u2019s Bizarre White House Correspondent\u2019s Dinner Speech Had Few Laughing<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tSuleyman gains a reluctant ally in cop Yasmine (Clara Claymans), as the rest of her SWAT team gets swiftly exterminated. He commits to helping her cause, too \u2014 which means fighting off Prince\u2019s innumerable flunkies and his chief lieutenants. The latter consist of brutish pro boxer The Lion (Jamal Ben Saddik), former Congolese child soldier Minza (Rudy Mukendi), Albanian gun runner Tchuko (Soroush Helali), and drug-deals overseer Nikita (Imanuelle Grives), who is extra-problematic because she and Suleyman used to be an item.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe headlong pacing allows nary a breather, though there are enough wry notes, character quirks and offbeat details (remote-control doors, goats, a knife fight on a waterbed) to prevent macho monotony from setting in. With scant time for backstory, we must simply accept that Suley is a near-invincible one-man army, and Boumazoughe\u2019s air of beleaguered resourcefulness makes that easy to swallow. The supporting figures are colorful enough, though Akkabi\u2019s sneering chief villain arguably makes less of an impression than his subordinates.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cColorful\u201d is definitely the word for Steven Vanvolsem\u2019s cinematography, which bathes the gritty settings in candied hues \u2014 another credulity-stretching element that works just fine. Editor Brian Ent helps punch across physical action that is not dazzling<em> \u00e0 la<\/em> \u201cJohn Wick,\u201d going instead for an entertainingly messy, not-too-acrobatic tenor. As energy continually ramps upward, the score by Maxim Lany and Jonas Nuttin moves from ominous horns to pulsing electronica, with some neat incorporation of prayer-call-like motifs underlining the hero\u2019s Muslim faith.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIf the script by Sven Huybrechts (of WWII thriller \u201cTorpedo\u201d), Boumazoughe and fellow cast member Salahdine Ibnou Kacemi is the most routine element here, it nonetheless rehashes well-worn ideas at a brisk clip. The climax could be a little more climactic, but otherwise Colaers\u2019 second directorial feature \u2014 following smaller-scaled horror comedy \u201cTrizombie\u201d \u2014 provides too good a time while you\u2019re watching to quibble about how quickly it may fade from memory.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4945\">\u2018The Odyssey\u2019 Leaked on X: High-Quality Bootleg Seen by Millions in Hours Before Takedown<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h2>\n<p>\t\t\u2018Attack on Paradise\u2019 Review: Under Siege From Both Criminals and Cops, a Hero Battles Upward in a Zesty High-Rise Actioner<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<h2>\n<p>\t\tReviewed online, July 19, 2026. In Fantasia Festival. Running time: 99 MIN.<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong>Production:<\/strong><br \/>\n(Belgium-Netherlands) A Team Productions, Aattache Films presentation in association with Independent Films, Kinepolis Film Distribution, Amazon Prime Video, 2020 Studios, Casa Kafka Pictures, Blue Finch Film Releasing production. (World sales: Blue Finch, London.) Producers: Yves Van de Paer, Hendrik Verthe. Executive producer: Kobe Van Steenberghe. Co-producer: Jamel Aattache.\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong>Crew:<\/strong><br \/>\nDirector: Bob Colaers. Screenplay: Sven Huybrechts, Sa\u00efd Boumazoughe, Salahdine Ibnou Kacemi. Camera: Steven Vanvolsem. Editor: Brian Ent. Music: Maxim Lany, Jonas Nuttin.\u00a0\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong>With:<\/strong><br \/>\nSa\u00efd Boumazoughe, Clara Cleymans, Achmed Akkabi, Jamal Ben Saddik, Imanuelle Grives, Fatima Khanfour, Salahdine Ibnou Kacemi, Numidia El Morabet, Soroush Helali, Rudy Mukendi. (Dutch, Arabic dialogue.) \t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Custom-tooled for himself by star Sa\u00efd Boumazough, Bob Colaers&#8217; &#8216;Attack on Paradise&#8217; is a scrappy Antwerp-set thriller executed with style and humor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3948,3949,3826,3950],"class_list":["post-4950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-attack-on-paradise","tag-bob-colaers","tag-fantasia-festival","tag-said-boumazoughe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Attack on Paradise\u2019 Review: Under Siege From Both Criminals and Cops, a Hero Battles Upward in a Zesty High-Rise Actioner - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4950\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Attack on Paradise\u2019 Review: Under Siege From Both Criminals and Cops, a Hero Battles Upward in a Zesty High-Rise Actioner - Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Custom-tooled for himself by star Sa\u00efd Boumazough, Bob Colaers&#039; &#039;Attack on Paradise&#039; is a scrappy Antwerp-set thriller executed with style and humor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4950\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-26T17:44:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=4950#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=4950\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Attack on Paradise\u2019 Review: Under Siege From Both Criminals and Cops, a Hero Battles Upward in a Zesty High-Rise Actioner\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-26T17:44:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=4950\"},\"wordCount\":927,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=4950#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ac5171ee501c71201f4c5fd2ea8742a4.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Attack on Paradise,\",\"Bob Colaers,\",\"Fantasia Festival,\",\"Said Boumazoughe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Film\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=4950#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=4950\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=4950\",\"name\":\"\u2018Attack on Paradise\u2019 Review: Under Siege From Both Criminals and Cops, a Hero Battles Upward in a Zesty High-Rise Actioner - 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