Insurgent: Why did the directors of Bad Boys 3 make a film about Daesh?

A popular duo in Hollywood…

Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah, who are responsible for aesthetic gangster films such as Black and Gangsta, also directed the American blockbuster Bad Boys For Life, Michael Bay’s sequel Bad Boys and Bad Boys II. In May 2021, after filming two episodes of the Miss Marvel series, they were chosen to direct Batgirl, DC’s new version, for HBO Max.

But Warner’s new management finally decided to cancel the film in early August 2022… an announcement that sent Hollywood into a frenzy, especially since the $70 million blockbuster was already shot and in post-production.

Why radicalization?

Adil El Arbi and Bilal Falla explain why they made a film about the radicalization of a young Belgian of Moroccan origin: “In 2012, 2013, people of our age, mostly people of Moroccan origin living in Belgium, decided to go to Syria. Something we had never really seen.”

“During the conflict in Iraq, there was no similar phenomenon. It was about young people we sometimes knew, or friends of friends. Everyone in Belgium, of North African origin, knows someone who went there, and often these young people. They went in groups. We wondered what they were going to do in Syria.”

References: Audiard, Villeneuve, etc.

Adil El Arbi and Bilal Falla and their designated cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert had the films of Jacques Audiard (for the deep and nervy sense of hard light) and the films of Kore-eda (for the sense of family history). Directors develop:

“We can also add Denis Villeneuve for Incendies. We knew visually that there must be a difference between Belgium and Syria, even if without wanting to, that difference was automatically both the sun and the environment between the two countries. different.

in Belgium and Jordan

If the Syrian part of Rebels was filmed in Jordan (the team was unable to set up cameras in Morocco, given the country’s health restrictions), the Belgian scenes take place in Molenbeek, known for its youth population. He went to Syria. . This city, and proportionally Belgium, even had the highest percentage of those who went to Syria to fight for the Islamic State. Adil El Arbi and Bilal Falah explain:

“Belgians have been known to come to Syria since the start of the Syrian conflict. No one can clearly explain why Belgium has such a high percentage, two, three times higher than other countries.”

A fetish actress

With Insurgent, Adil El Arbi and Bilal Falla reunite with Abu Bakr Bensaih, who was one of the two young leads in Black (2016). “He comes from Molenbeek, he knows those who left. This topic is close to his heart, so it was logical that he became Kamal,” they say.