Find Movies & TV
Home
Live TV
On Demand
Discover
Explore
Movies & TV Shows
Most Popular
Leaving Soon
Categories
Action
Animation
Comedy
Crime
Documentary
Drama
En Español
Horror
Music
Romance
Sci-Fi
Thriller
Western
Explore
Browse Channels
Featured Channels
Crime 360
Nashville
FailArmy
Categories
Hit TV
Drama TV
Movies
True Crime
News
Sports
Reality
Classics
Sci-Fi & Action
Chills & Thrills
Comedy
Game Shows
Nature & Travel
History & Science
Food & Home
Lifestyle
Kids & Family
En Español
International
Anime+
Music
Sign In
Banel & Adama
Directed by
Ramata-Toulaye Sy
Not Rated
2023
87m
Drama
6.3
95%
6.5
Add to Watchlist
A young couple in Senegal must contend with the disapproval of their remote village.
More
Where to Watch Banel & Adama
Hoopla
Free
Kino Film Collection Amazon Channel
Subscription
Amazon Video
Buy $5.00
+4 more
Cast of Banel & Adama
Khady Mane
Banel
Mamadou Diallo
Adama
Binta Racine Sy
Adama’s Mother
Moussa Sow
Racine
Ndiabel Diallo
Coudy
Oumar Samba Dia
Abou Dia
Amadou Ndiaye
Malik
Amadou Hady Sall
Uncle #1
Cherif Diallo
Uncle #2
Nima Ba
Djibril
Amadou Kane Sylla
Omar
Sawdatou Sy
Marie
Ramata-Toulaye Sy
Director / Screenplay
Oumar Sy
Co-Producer
Margaux Juvénal
Producer
Souleymane Kébé
Co-Producer
Maud Leclair
Producer
Éric Névé
Producer
Andrey Samoute Diarra
Co-Producer
Olivier Père
Co-Producer
Banel & Adama Ratings & Reviews
New York Times
Manohla Dargis
... You remain engaged but also find yourself wishing that all these many desperate pieces fit together more coherently.
Next Best Picture
Josh Parham
The resulting effort is a flawed yet impressive exhibition of the trials that occur when choosing between self-gratification and communal honors.
Cinemalogue
Todd Jorgenson
Despite an ambiguous ending, the evocative film resonates with bittersweet compassion as it chronicles Banel's quest for empowerment and self-worth.
RogerEbert.com
Glenn Kenny
The directorial debut of French-Senegalese filmmaker Ramata-Toulaye Sy, this is one of those pictures to which the phrase "every frame a painting" might apply.
Mark Reviews Movies
Mark Dujsik
In exploring this relationship, Banel & Adama questions if love and freedom are even possible amidst a stringent belief in tradition.
Cinematic Words of a Chaotic Gemini (Substack)
Matthew St. Clair
A capable, often visually striking feature directorial debut from Ramata-Toulaye Sy.
Movies Thru the Spectrum
Al Alexander
An impressive debut for writer-director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, a Paris-born daughter of Senegalese immigrants who spent time in Dakar and was obviously appalled by the nation's antiquated adherence to gender roles.
The Film Stage
Alistair Ryder
Sy creates an intoxicating, woozy atmosphere that sucks you into this hermetically-sealed community, which remains beguiling even as she doesn't explore many themes surrounding her dark relationship drama with enough depth.
Slant Magazine
Diego Semerene
In the end, Banel & Adama is most memorable when it forgets to push the story forward and wallows in the painterly, or allegorical, registers of its images.
In Review Online
Michael Sicinski
Neither strictly realistic nor overtly supernatural in its narrative approach, Sy's film stages a conflict between two incompatible systems of belief. But it's unusual in that neither worldview is privileged or validated.
Awards Daily
Frank J. Avella
Mane delivers an unflinching performance as the driven Banel who go to great lengths to fight to have Adama all to herself...Unfortunately, the film doesn't end as much as drift away, which is frustrating because its heroine deserved a solid third act.
InSession Film
Hector A. Gonzalez
While its tale of star-crossed lovers is not executed to its fullest potential, the images concocted and shot by cinematographer Amine Berrada are utterly haunting and transcendent.
Deadline Hollywood Daily
Damon Wise
There's a lot to absorb in this beautifully realized production, and on a visceral level alone it's quite sumptuous... But it's as a performance piece that it really gets under your skin
AwardsWatch
Anna Miller
Banel & Adama is a technically striking creation that merits praise for many of its aspects. As a directorial debut it is quite an impressive beast of a film.
The Film Verdict
Jay Weissberg
Handsomely crafted and punctuated by beautiful images, "Banel & Adama" sets up its themes at the very start and thereafter offers few surprises; it's a strong first feature but not quite strong enough to lure non-festival audiences.
IndieWire
Sophie Monks Kaufman
A striking debut that puts Sy on the map as a purveyor of deceptively gorgeous visions that show flimsy desires at the mercy of the social, and literal, weather.
OkayAfrica
Robert Daniels
Banel & Adama is a distressingly searing love story that moves to its own rhythms, curiosities, impulses, and havoc for a shrewd picture of the heavy balance between loyalty to one's community and devotion to each other.
The Hollywood Reporter
Lovia Gyarkye
A stunningly conjured world in need of a sharper story.
Variety
Jessica Kiang
Sy's film is a curious little fable, not quite fully formed in its final stages... But it's a striking debut nonetheless, especially as it revolves, with graceful poetry around the inner experiences of such a curious, unknowable woman.
TheWrap
Steve Pond
In Ramata-Toulaye Sy's impressive debut, she's saying we're more than flesh and blood - and that if things are falling apart, we can still make sense of it because we're storytellers.
Watch Banel & Adama Videos
Banel & Adama (US Trailer 1)
Banel & Adama (US Trailer 1)
Trailer
Take Plex everywhere
Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices
Home
Live TV
On Demand
Discover
