User reviews

I saw very bad reviews about this movie and I was disappointed, but when I watched it I enjoyed it and was a little scared.

The scenario was good, but the directing was not at the required level, but that's okay, we're still learning, and I think sometimes it's not necessary for the story to represent society or its issues. Let us leave room for some creativity and exploration of other fields. The actors appeared at a good level and the scenario was realistic, even if some describe it as bad. Unfortunately, the music was annoying in many of the shots, but in the end this is considered a good start for Saudi drama.

The movie opens with a gut wrenching scene and slowly fades into igniting the curiosity of the viewer. A Saudi girl with some issues of her (or they would become spoilers) has a date which proves to be a hell of a ride for the memory. The cinematography is excellent. Not even for one second you can doubt that it is not a Hollywood level flick. The angles add to the story and so does the creepy and eerie music that gets under the skin. In the middle of the movie, the film does begin to drag a little but the last quarter of the movie is a refreshing part in itself.

The cast did a very honest job. The vfx shine. I really wish more of such great films come out of the kingdom. 7/10.

The movie is about a girl who despite a curfew and controlling parents, decides to attend a party with her boyfriend in a camp in the middle of nowhere.

As a person from Iran, I was very curious about this movie as didn't know much about Saudi's. After watching, to me at least, this movie showed that despite our politicians' intentions, we have pretty similar beliefs and fears, and our societies are not much different. The movie has almost everything: thrill, horror, drama and mystery, but makers tried to not just scare or thrill, but also address some other issues, like honor killings and controlling parents, which some of them may not make sense for western viewers, but they are extremely familiar for the people from other countries in the region, problems which we hope and pray that would solve soon.

So while I liked the movie, I reckon that it is kind of unusual movie, I hope to see more from my Saudi buddies in the future.

I always said "I hope that Saudi film industry will reach this level one day on the directorial and cinematic level", and guess what? Naga movie has met that!

After the anger comments on this movie, by the ridicule, do you think we should take a deep breath and let us evaluate the film with its true identity?

The movie Naga is a psychological drama, psychological thriller, suspense, psychological horror, social horror,

From what I see from the comments, I was expecting a movie, a philosophical drama, a social drama. Some even described it as science fiction.

So, you put the film in a different mold and judged it according to the mold that you set for it, and this is not the problem of the film or its makers. The film put itself in the molds of Jordan Peele's films, such as Get Out and others. You put it with Taxi Driver and demanded from it compelling social messages, leaving out the elements of suspense, excitement, and horror, and paying attention only to your issues. Your claims are with lawyers, not filmmakers

I really don't know when was the last time I saw a scenario for an Arab psychological thriller and psychological horror film that had these elaborate twists in the scenario without being marred by many exaggerations or many coincidences. Even the dazzling use of horror tools was sometimes acceptable and sometimes wonderful.

There is a matter, unfortunately, that I did not see anyone praising, even though it was a basic pillar. This type of film is the product of foreign culture, and all the Arab films I saw in this mold were attracting many foreign ideas and implanting them in their scenarios. Have you seen the originality in the tools of excitement and horror in the film? ? Meshal Al-Jasser used common Saudi social and cultural tools and made them themes of horror and created branches of the dangers that the heroine of the film will face, such as:

Desert: a terrifying geographical area and a period of time

Paternal authority: and the fear of the father, and this was specific to the scenario, and this was very justified by making it a driver, given that it is controlled by a family that has a history with the ruler. His father killed his mother, and the doctor only created for her reason what the father would do when controlling his daughter, but what is very beautiful is that in The end of the movie is for a reason for the door after she made a very smart move. Even if we admit that the burning of the store was a coincidence, this type of scenario requires these coincidences because it is a starting point. You wanted to go back to the most famous horror and suspense films and count how much they talked about this type of accident. If she discovered that it was not the source of fear, but rather the source of safety for her, his crying and fear for her and the absence of heavy drinking on her hijab with the capabilities of children on it, it was a wonderful social message and you will be accused of the film, you will know that it is selling messages.

Her disregard for social controls and her going out surreptitiously with a foreign man: This is what I was upset about. The film's director discusses this issue as a basic dilemma in the scenario and said that it happens in every home! Rather, the man created all the expanses of the universe and these disastrous adventures from his personal actions. I see how a mistake leads to a bigger mistake and a bigger mistake. Did he acquit the girl for her eyes? Do I see you as persecuted? We conveyed to you the journey of extremism and the dangers that result from this scene

The many secret parties: They were wonderful and well-informed, as the barbarian preacher went to the land and talked about them. There were only wonderful sequences, whether with events or past twists, and future events, including a smooth social and sarcastic comedy. There was also the demarcation of the heroine Salhiya, who is the truth and revenge, which will remind him of the severed instrument, which represents the marrow. For the movie, whether when her lover chose her side or she wrote to her friend for causing a very old problem for her, this was shown by the pouring of coffee on her face in a scene in which there was a duality between implementing her hatred and revenge and trying to wake him up.

The camel "Naga": Since he went into the world of experimental horror, he used the camel as one of his terrifying themes. What about her? With a very common incident, which is the accidents of camels on the roads, which created a line of excitement and horror, and even the spinning of traits such as hatred, the constant suffering of a character as long as it remains a desert, and the matter did not end only with spinning the camel with this characteristic, with spinning it with the character of the heroine, not for the other symbolisms and philosophical purpose, but rather to make it appear whether the heroine is confronting herself in her vision. It carries the same characteristic that the she-camel carries, which is truth and revenge... a feast that was eaten by humans, gods and monsters. It seemed that the hero looked like a she-camel, as she fed from the she-camel by eating it brutally as a kind of circle of revenge that did not end, but it was interrupted in the last scene when she beat her brother and took revenge on him. There was an event that came before all of these planes that completed the traits of her personality that she began with, which is that she never forgets her hatred, to complete the story of the poster in the movie that Sarah is the she-camel.

Tbh, my life and the lives of many of my friends were represented in the film a little: it was forbidden to go out and the people were strict. In any case, it cannot be denied that these behaviors exist in any Arab society.

I also understand her lying and her fear of her father at the end of the film. Many of our fathers were victims of their fathers and are now applying what they learned to their children.

The actress is beautiful and her facial expressions are good in acting, unlike the men who acted with her who lacked acting and cleanliness.

I didn't understand it well until I saw some analysis on Twitter.

This looks like an indie movie made by a struggling film school student who had just learned a few visual tricks. So much camera movement from unnecessary angles. I know it's the trend nowadays but the movements have to serve a purpose which I am not sure the director had one.

It seems that the story was intended for a short movie and for some reason somebody thought it was a good idea to make it a 113 minutes long film!

I could keep going but it was so awful that writing about it -even negatively- only makes it less awful than it actually is. You have to see it for yourself.

Finally, a word for young filmmakers: focus on writing. It's what separates a good movie from a bad one.

While i wasnt a fan of the camera work at many times

this was still an enjoyable thriller treat!

A movie that has a simple story a character that has a simple task but when things go wrong it twists and it becomes a full of nightmare and anxious thriller

a mix of " after hours " and " good time " but in a saudi setting

as a saudi im proud of this movie and this step

not to forget we got some new fresh faces , adwa who brings an amazing performance.

However i hope the hate the movie is getting doesn't get to meshal's head, anyone who's familiar with this style of movies wouldn't hate on this movie like most people did. Sadly.

Some people are not ready for a movie like this which is normal since cinema is still up and coming in saudi.

People are too used to a certain style of movies that has been a thing here for decades so a big change like this will forever bring controversy.

This film is said to embody the reality of life in Saudi Arabia, and this is wrong. You can do it, as there is no embodiment in it that is close to reality without insults, cursing, and forbidden relationships. In terms of the story, it is on my list of the 10 worst films in history in terms of writing. There is only one positive thing about this film and that is the photography. You can imagine three years during which this film was produced, and it appeared to us in a bad and boring way. I do not wish my worst enemies to watch this film. Meshal Al-Jasser, the director of this film, you must learn from your mistakes in the past, and everyone knows them, even my five-year-old brother knows that you focus on directing and filming and show us a vague story.

A movie that almost doesn't want to be liked if that makes sense especially when it represents a reserved people but the more people hate it, the better it has done its job.

That's how I knew I gotta watch this movie.

It was brilliant how it shed light on a lot of things, the back story of her father and the truma he had, concluding that's how he ended up being strict. Also the upper class people can get dirty too. There were so artistic shots and connected to 80s Vibes kinda thing Besides everything Sara the protagonist did very well in acting I felt tensed, dizzy, sick just a whole lot of mixed feelings.

Good writing, good directing, and good acting.

Writing is not pure, the story is so simple, and not new at all in Saudi cinema, so the movie could be shorter by half an hour maybe!

Directing is fair, could be more slow. I liked the camera movement but some scenes did not need this and it become like disorder and interruption.

I felt that the director has many potentials and he tried so many things in his first movie. I will forgive him because it is the first movie, but later he should know when to use this camera movement and why I should flip the camera and ask himself does it deserve to disturb the audience?

Acting is good by Adhwa and the movie is one actor based.

One of the best saudi movies I've seen

Naga is the name of the female version of camel , and this story is the female version of life in Saudi for a girl that was not accepted in her community for her extreme bad choices that she had to choose to feel free of her very conservative family and strict father unlike her friend that lives a very normal life and her family accepted her even when she do something wrong.

This movie it not a reflection of Saudi women But a reflection of one girl that made a wild bad choices in a row.

Note: The camel as an animal is known for not letting go of hatred towards anyone that does it wrong! Hints why how the girls attitude resembles the NAGA. After everything she went through She still ate the NAGA's meat with hate while crying.

Very brave point of view and a wild journey indeed 👏👏

I absolutely loved it. So real and on point idk why people hate it so much but i think it's because they're in denial about it happening in saudi. I was at the edge of my seat throughout the whole movie i felt the anger, the misery, the fear, the anxiety, the paranoia. Meshal did a great job making the viewers feel all of that. Every shot of the movie felt like a painting. The hallucinations were so on point and how whenever she got anxious or scared her hallucinations got worse. Her bad trips and the fear in them made me so anxious and i loved every bit of it. This movie was great work thank you meshal.

A woman battles patriarchy, drugs, creepy camels, fake-ass poets, and more in this super-trippy, fairly engaging Saudi thriller. As a viewer, I think you can better connect with the material if you're aware of the region's geography and living conditions. Having lived in the Middle East for a good amount of time, the environs (especially, how a late-night desert camp looks, sounds, and feels) brought back a lot of memories. NAGA intends to take you on an anxiety-inducing ride with a lot of fast cuts and distorted edits; the frame often goes dangerously close to the characters' faces. The film also probably features the spookiest camel you'll ever see.

Meshal Aljaser's penchant for long & wide shots is evident, and he puts them to stupendous use in certain scenes. While the thrills keep coming, I feel the film is around 15 minutes too long. The entire episode at the quad rental shop (towards the end) didn't add much - even from a psychological perspective, I began to think Sarah (the protagonist) had too much to endure for one single night. Credit to Adwa Bader for her remarkable portrayal of Sarah; the shot of her breaking shackles and fervently consuming camel meat made me feel uncomfortable.

Naga offers a good storyline that initially draws you in. However, a major drawback is the excessive use of light effects and frequent camera rotations, which unfortunately overshadow the narrative's strengths. This excessive visual flair reached a point where it became a hindrance to my viewing experience, to the extent that I had to stop watching due to feeling dizzy. Despite the intriguing story, these overpowering visual choices made it challenging to continue. This film, while promising in concept, fails to maintain a balance between visual spectacle and storytelling, ultimately detracting from what could have been an engaging experience.

I don't want to see anyone criticizing the film because it's perfect and I hope the director doesn't stop production. This is the second time I've seen this movie to focus on the things that I didn't give them the right attention. I incredibly loved the movie 🎬. Your choice of the actress is wonderful, she made the film even more beautiful. It's enjoyable and unique work, and I rarely see this genre that resembles our dialect. I loved the movie very much. I want to see this type of movie a lot in the future with the same mastery and vibe. Keep up the good work, don't listen to the haters. Love it.

The movie idea is good but its not good enough to make a2 hours movie. The director was great but in first scene it was not ok at all when he comes down the stairs. Action scenes so weak by the story side and photography angles. But the acting was really good and most directing was also good. If this story has alot of actions and events the movie will be good. I like the end of the movie its really great.

The scenario was really good and and the makeup of the camel is really amazing it was scary like the best level required. If this movie ne shorter if this movie was shorter, it would be much better, because there are a lot of boring scenes. In the end, i highly recommend watching this movie because despite its many flaws, it will still be a unique experience.

This movie is seriously brave which why saudi's hated it because they think it doesn't apply to them or their loved ones. Anyways the producing was so special and creative that I enjoyed every moment and I believe the producer deserves global recognition. Great movie 10/10 as a saudi woman myself. Will be rewatching soon

This movie is seriously brave which why saudi's hated it because they think it doesn't apply to them or their loved ones. Anyways the producing was so special and creative that I enjoyed every moment and I believe the producer deserves global recognition. Great movie 10/10 as a saudi woman myself.

I watched the film and I know that Meshal Al-Jasser has a different style in photography from his beginning on YouTube to what we see now in cinema. The idea is somewhat beautiful, but it was not clear to the viewer. The camel's paragraph is enthusiastic, but it was missing some ideas that improve the quality of viewing. The film was lacking in writing, but In terms of effects and photography angles, creativity, but there is excessive rotation of the camera, which distracts the viewer a little. I hope that Mashal in the future will produce a better film than that, and I have confidence in him. Thank you.

The movie lacked the spark to engage audiences, with a monotonous plot that failed to captivate. Character development was superficial, leaving viewers disconnected. The pacing dragged, making even pivotal moments seem uneventful. Dialogue felt uninspired, contributing to a sense of monotony. Cinematography lacked innovation, resulting in a visually dull experience. Despite a talented cast, their performances couldn't salvage the tedious narrative. Overall, the film fell short in delivering excitement or emotional resonance, making it a forgettable and unremarkable watch. I dont recommend whatching Nagah.

The movie was truly remarkable and caught me by surprise. I appreciate the way they skillfully create those intense fear-of-action moments that elicit a physical response, causing perspiration and heightened anticipation. Such was the impact that I found myself unable to close my eyes throughout the entire movie!

It was awesome.

The experience was truly remarkable and caught me by surprise. I appreciate the way they skillfully create those intense fear-of-action moments that elicit a physical response, causing perspiration and heightened anticipation. Such was the impact that I found myself unable to close my eyes throughout the entire experience!

Meshal Aljaser, while he might be new to feature film directing, he isn't new to movies, directing, or acting (he appeared in one of the scenes briefly). He has been doing this for more than 10 years, and I'm not saying that makes him the best director, but it's just that he had enough time to figure out his directing style which I see very prominent in his work across the spectrum of media, from 'folaim ya gholaim' to this movie 'Naga'.

This movie offers a complete experience, from engaging visuals that tell stories, a balance between still shots, B-rolls, close-ups, and other camera tricks. The key word here is *Balance*, because unlike other directors which are new to feature length films, he doesn't overuse it, it's just that the necessity arrises for the sake of better storytelling which I can tell you in cinematography this movie delivers.

From color grade, filters, visual effects, to movement, angles, and lighting. This movie fails to disappoint as a lot people suggest, I've heard you can either love this movie or hate it, but if you are a thriller fan, this movie is for you.

Not only is the cinematography unique, but also the choreography, time jumps that happen to give you a glimpse of what's going to happen, foreshadowing with complexity, and what sets this movie apart from a lot of different mediocre movies for me is that they don't tell you what's happening, they just show you, but even that is within balance.

The story of this movie while some people might not consider it complete, it serves a purpose, without giving any spoilers, it's just the main character going through tribulations, going through an adventure. While it might not be the most enticing story, with the most amount of "morals" in the story. It shines a light on plenty of societal issues in the arab world whether people think it paints a positive or negative picture to our world. The truth is the truth and I love artistic expression with the intent of shining a light on the taboo topics.

Most people who would look at the reviews then view this movie would get confused, since a movie like this most of the time gets much higher rating, while ratings aren't the most accurate things in the world in arts (since everyone likes different things for different reasons), if you like the visual direction of western movies, camera work, and dialogue structure, you'll like this movie. If you aren't bothered by experimental camera tricks that some people might consider 'headache inducing' then you'll like this movie. If you are a thriller fan you'd understand the direction of this specific director.

All I have to say is good job to the team as a whole, from director who delivers on his end, cast of actors that fail to disappoint in any scene making me immersed in the world of Sara, filming and editing team for their immense work, and the visual effects team that make everything look as realistic as it can get.

In my opinion, this is an amazing start for a new era of cinema, GCC cinema, and I'm all for it.

I loved the camel . It's a solid 2/10 and this is me being generous. I don't get the hype the storyline was bad the actress overreacting, I know Saudi are new to the cinema, but you really could do better the storyline is the most important part of a movie and you failed. You all should Watch Japanese movies or Iranian small budget with good story is the real deal not everything is about "money"! And the feet scene Hello Tarantino stay true to your heart this is me talking to the director you really have good potential for success I'm not trying to be mean but this is how you'll grow listen to the audience sometimes we know what we talking about.