''The Misfits'' is a 2021 American heist

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by

Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Hollywood and China. His best-known films include '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'', ''The Adventures of Ford Fai ...

and written by Robert Henny and

Kurt Wimmer Kurt Wimmer (born 1964) is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. Biography He attended the University of South Florida and graduated with a BFA degree in Art History. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he worked for 12 ...

. The film stars Pierce Brosnan, Rami Jaber,

Hermione Corfield Hermione Isla Conyngham Corfield (born 19 December 1993) is an English actress. She has appeared in films, including '' Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation'' (2015), ''Mr. Holmes'' (2015), ''Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'' (2016), '' XXX: Ret ...

Jamie Chung Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her app ...

, Mike d Angelo,

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack". He made his television debut ...

Nick Cannon Nicholas Scott Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American television host, actor, rapper, and comedian. In television, Cannon began as a teenager on ''All That'' before going on to host '' The Nick Cannon Show'', ''Wild 'n Out'', ''America's ...

, and Qais Qandil. It was released in South Korea on June 3, 2021, and was released in the United States on June 11, 2021, by The Avenue Entertainment. The film was a box office disaster and received negative reviews.

Cast

* Pierce Brosnan as Richard Pace * Rami Jaber as The Prince *

as Hope Pace *

as Violet * Mike Angelo as Wick *

as Schultz *

as Ringo * Qais Qandil as Jason Quick *

Samer al-Masry Samer al-Masry, also spelled Samer al-Masri, ( ar, سامر المصري; born 3 August 1969 in Damascus, Syria) is a Syrian actor. He is best known for his lead role in the Syrian drama Bab al-Hara.Interview by Hayyan Nayouf, translated by Soni ...

as Hassan (Shultz Thug 1) * Mansoor Al Feeli as Abu Hirawa *

Walid Riachy Walid Riachy (born 26 September 1990) is a Lebanese actor and model, who mostly appears in Mollywood and Hollywood films as well as international commercials. He completed a bachelor's degree program in business management at the American Unive ...

Production

According to Harlin, he and Brosnan had "been looking for a project to collaborate on for some time". The project was first announced on February 12, 2019 at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

European Film Market The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. Filming locations include Abu Dhabi,

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Principal photography commenced a week later.

Release

''The Misfits'' had its world premiere in South Korea on June 3, 2021. The Avenue Entertainment in association with Highland Film Group distributed the film on June 11, 2021.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval score of 17% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 3.70/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 25 out of 100 based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Accolades

Controversy

The film has been controversial in Qatar due to some real life negative references to Qatar to "terror" financing and explicit references to the Muslim Brotherhood as "terrorists" with

Yusuf al-Qaradawi Yusuf al-Qaradawi ( ar, يوسف القرضاوي, translit=Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of ...

as their mastermind. The film is financed as well as co-produced by an Emirati production company, and given the involvement of Emirati media in propagating this narrative against Qatar at least since the first Qatar diplomatic crisis combined with ''

Doha News Doha News is an online news blog started in March 2009 by two American journalists, Shabina Khatri and Omar Chatriwala. It is based in Qatar and provides its readers with daily reports on breaking domestic and international news stories. It gaine ...

'' reporting anti-Qatar plot elements in the film's content. Initially announced as "Coming Soon" in the Qatari subsidiary of

-headquartered Vox Cinemas, the one half of film exhibition duopoly in Qatar, with the other half being Novo Cinemas which is also Dubai-headquartered but wholly owned indirectly by

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

-based Elan Group (through their ownership of its parent

Gulf Film Gulf Film is a film distributor which was established in 1989. It is focused on film distribution for major studios from around the world as well as independent English and Arabic films catering to audiences across the Middle East. Gulf Film is th ...

, a regional film distributor across West Asia and North Africa dealing mostly in foreign films, including but not limited to Hollywood releases) lending to this being the speculated factor behind them not picking this film up for exhibition not just in Qatar, but across all of the national markets they operated in, including UAE. As the backlash grew with leaked stills from South Korean release leading credence to discord over anti-Qatar "propaganda" embedded in the film, Emirati-owned Vox Cinemas ultimately shelved the film's planned release in Qatar, with press release confirming the move by 1 July 2021, the previously announced release date.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Misfits, The 2020s English-language films 2021 crime action films 2020s heist films American crime action films American heist films Films directed by Renny Harlin Films scored by Trevor Rabin Films with screenplays by Kurt Wimmer Films set in prison Films set in Abu Dhabi Films set in the Middle East Films set in a fictional country Films shot in Abu Dhabi Films shot in Dubai Films shot in Los Angeles 2020s American films