Four Lions

A harrowing, pitch-black comedy, Four Lions finds laughs in the unthinkable as it follows a group of British jihadists plotting terrorist acts. The opening scene sets the tone as we watch the hapless quartet's video manifesto undermined by blown lines and clumsy staging. “These are the bloopers,” sighs the leader, Omar (Riz Ahmed), while sharing the footage with his wife and children. In addition to Omar, the would-be suicide bombers include the dim Waj (Kayvan Novak); Barry (Nigel Lindsay), a white convert who considers himself the most radical (he wants to blow up a local mosque to “radicalize the moderates”); and Faisal (Adeel Akhtar), who trains crows to carry out explosive missions. A fifth member, hip-hop fundamentalist Hassan (Arsher Ali), is recruited when Omar and Waj attend a Pakistani training camp (from which they're ejected). Director Chris Morris plays it absolutely straight, shooting in a viscerally effective documentary style, employing deadpan satire that does not make light of terrorism but instead exposes the single-minded idiocy of fanaticism. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)