The Voice of Hind Rajab Film Review

The Voice of Hind Rajab is a sickening, soul-crushing portrait of one day among first responders on the Gaza Strip, fueled by astounding lead performances.

The ongoing genocide in Palestine has been the biggest humanitarian crisis of the past few years, and instead of giving audiences a break from the horrors of the real world, The Voice of Hind Rajab holds a sickening mirror to reality and forces viewers to consider our own complicity in this deeply human tragedy.

Kaouther ben Hania’s stirring drama unfolds in real time, following a group of volunteer workers at the Palestine Red Crescent who receive an emotional distress call from a young girl trapped in a crashed vehicle in northern Gaza. The film soon becomes a blood-pumping race against time as the volunteers attempt to coordinate a rescue effort with the Red Cross and the Israeli military, ensuring safe passage for their ambulances to protect the young girl.

There has been no shortage of informative documentaries and on-the-ground reports about the occupation of Palestine over the past few years, but The Voice of Hind Rajab still manages to feel totally original and pressingly important thanks to its unique structure and first-hand context. There is no actor playing Hind Rajab – instead, the film employs genuine recordings of the girl’s phone calls with the volunteers, while the rest of the cast stick faithfully to the real-life transcripts. The film even includes real footage from the Red Crescent’s HQ in the West Bank as they deploy every resource they have to save this single girl.

This authentic approach to storytelling gives The Voice of Hind Rajab such a powerful edge, demanding the audience’s attention from the very first scene and working tirelessly to maintain it. At just 90 minutes in length, there isn’t a single moment for the audience to take a breath and compose themselves; we’re always right there with the volunteers, sharing in their panic and confusion as Rajab’s story plays out on the other end of the telephone.

The Voice of Hind Rajab is an inherently political film, but above all, it’s a story of impatience. As the volunteers wait for the green light to send their ambulance to rescue the girl, Omar (Motaz Malhees) marches to his boss’ office and scrawls a number on his window: eight. Eight minutes since the girl called for help. The hours pass, the emotions rise, and the pair begin to clash. The number gets larger. How can they wait for the Israeli military to allow them safe passage when it’s their soldiers who shot the vehicle down in the first place?

The Voice of Hind Rajab does an incredible job of highlighting this hypocrisy, using its characters effectively to spark important conflicts and discussions about the “right” way to operate in a war that’s anything but right. There are protocols upon protocols, but every minute the volunteers wait is another minute that the young girl is scared, alone, and under fire. The entire cast does a brilliant job of bringing these characters to life and displaying all the emotions that come with this terrifying scenario. Motaz Malhee and Saja Kilani are particular standouts, emphasizing just how upsetting and traumatic this experience was for everybody involved.

Both formally and narratively, The Voice of Hind Rajab is a resounding success. These kinds of single-location thrillers have a habit of losing momentum as the story unfolds, but that’s rarely the case here. Kaouther ben Hania’s screenplay is constantly introducing new obstacles for the characters to overcome, raising the stakes at every turn and using the story to highlight the hypocrisy of the system under which these volunteers are expected to operate. There are moments that feel a little slow in comparison to its more pressing scenes, but these are quickly overcome.

Another major obstacle that The Voice of Hind Rajab has to overcome is the simple fact that, from the beginning, audiences already know how this narrative is going to end. The film is proudly based on a true story, and some viewers may find it frustrating that it’s ultimately building towards a conclusion that they can already predict. However, the “what” really isn’t the point here. This isn’t just a film about Hind Rajab – it’s a film about the broken system that facilitates disasters like this to happen, and the inability of any of the Palestinian people to change it. This narrative flexibility and fiercely confident political commentary makes The Voice of Hind Rajab not just an excellent thriller, but also the most important film of the year.

The Voice of Hind Rajab had its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 3, 2025. The film will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival in October.