12 Best Lebanese Movies to Watch

By Vlad Zakh · September 13, 2026

Lebanese cinema keeps working through the same wound, the civil war and its long aftermath, sometimes head on, as in West Beirut, and sometimes through the poverty and sectarian tension it left behind. Ghadi has a father hiding his son’s disability from a building of nosy neighbours, A Perfect Day marks the day a missing father is declared dead, and Very Big Shot has three brothers smuggling cocaine in pizza boxes. Capernaum, Incendies, The Insult, Caramel, Where Do We Go Now?, 1982 and Beirut Hotel round out the list.

Ghadi (2013)

TMDB ★ 6.7

A father hides his son's disability from an entire building of nosy, judgmental neighbours.

Directed by Amin Dora · 1h 40m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

A Perfect Day (2005)

TMDB ★ 6.5

A brother and sister mark the day their long-missing father is officially declared dead.

Directed by Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige · 1h 28m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Very Big Shot (2015)

TMDB ★ 6.7

Three brothers smuggle cocaine inside pizza boxes disguised as a film-production shoot.

Directed by Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya · 1h 47m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Beirut Hotel (2011)

TMDB ★ 6.0

A French singer's affair in postwar Beirut gets tangled up with a real, unresolved political assassination.

Directed by Danielle Arbid · 1h 39m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Insult (2017)

TMDB ★ 7.6

A minor plumbing dispute between two men escalates into a national reckoning with Lebanon's civil war.

Directed by Ziad Doueiri · 1h 52m

Where to watch

Stream: Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, Cohen Media Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Incendies (2010)

IMDb ★ 8.3 RT 91% Metacritic 80

Twins fulfil their late mother's dying wish by uncovering a devastating secret about her wartime past.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve · 2h 11m · Rated R

Nominated for 1 Oscar41 wins & 20 nominations

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Where Do We Go Now? (2011)

TMDB ★ 7.5

The women of a mixed Christian-Muslim village conspire to keep their men from reigniting old religious conflicts.

Directed by Nadine Labaki · 1h 50m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

West Beirut (1998)

TMDB ★ 7.6

Two teenage friends keep filming their neighbourhood on Super 8 even as civil war closes in around them.

Directed by Ziad Doueiri · 1h 45m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Caramel (2007)

TMDB ★ 7.2

Five women at a Beirut beauty salon navigate love, tradition and each other's secrets.

Directed by Nadine Labaki · 1h 36m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Capernaum (2018)

IMDb ★ 8.4 RT 89% Metacritic 75

A young boy in a Lebanese slum sues his parents for the unbearable hardship of his existence.

Directed by Nadine Labaki · 2h 06m

Nominated for 1 Oscar37 wins & 56 nominations

Where to watch

Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

1982 (2020)

TMDB ★ 7.4

An eleven-year-old boy tries to confess his feelings to a classmate on the day Israel invades Lebanon.

Directed by Oualid Mouaness · 1h 40m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Heaven Without People (2017)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A sprawling Christian family's Easter reunion curdles into old grudges under the shadow of Lebanon's history.

Directed by Lucien Bourjeily · 1h 31m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

12 Best Lebanese Movies to Watch

Ghadi (2013)

A Perfect Day (2005)

Very Big Shot (2015)

Beirut Hotel (2011)

The Insult (2017)

Incendies (2010)

Where Do We Go Now? (2011)

West Beirut (1998)

Caramel (2007)

Capernaum (2018)

1982 (2020)

Heaven Without People (2017)

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