First of all, I wasn't really sure if Timbuktu was a real place, or a figurative one like Xanadu. It turns out, it's real and it's in Mali, Africa in the Sahara desert.
Now that we know that, this movie was about the native people of Timbuktu falling under the rule of militant jihadists. The jihad leaders are swiftly imposing more and more draconian rules and punishments and the villagers are trying to learn how to adjust, how to fight and what they will be left with as this war is waged with them.
The movie is beautiful and depressing. Depressing because you are watching a diverse and spirited group of people slowly destroyed by their extremist captors. The new rulers have jeeps and guns. There is no hope that shepherds and fisherman can match their might and overthrow them. The movie is beautiful because of moments like the balletic, choreographed sequence of a large group of men joyfully playing soccer with an imaginary soccer ball (soccer has been outlawed).
The desert is shot beautifully, the acting is wonderful and overall, they manage to impart the sad plight of these people while still showing their beauty and strength rather than depicting them as pitiable victims, which I appreciated.
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