Attack paradise review under siege: High-rise thrills
The attack paradise review under Variety's Fantasia coverage crowns "Attack on Paradise" a zesty Belgian high-rise actioner: Saïd Boumazoughe's hero battles criminals and cops. Familiar like Die Hard, it still has energy, style, and good humor that outweigh a well-worn premise.
According to Variety's review, the Belgian-Moroccan star also earns a "created by" credit beneath director Bob Colaers, underscoring how personal this fantasy action vehicle feels amid Antwerp's multicultural modern reality.
Key Takeaways
- Boumazoughe's Suleyman fights upward through a crime-held high-rise during a police raid.
- The 99-minute Fantasia title mixes Die Hard energy with Assault on Precinct 13 and High Rise vibes.
- Colorful supporting villains, wry gags, and candied cinematography keep the familiar plot lively.
- Amazon Prime Video is among the Belgium-Netherlands production partners.
What is Attack on Paradise about?
Suleyman is walking home when an unmarked car nearly hits him. The drivers are cops who arrest the non-white, "gangbanger-looking" man on dubious charges. Seven years later he walks free and races to his infirm mother, Fatma (Fatima Khanfour), who swings from joy to rage over his "abandonment."
In his absence, crime boss Prince (Achmed Akkabi) turned the seventeen-story housing project into an underworld HQ. Police long treated it as a no-go zone; now they launch a raid to seize the boss—casualties expected. Suleyman is retrieving storage-room belongings when the mayhem erupts, making even a return to mom's flat life-threatening.
Who does the hero team up with under fire?
He gains a reluctant ally in cop Yasmine after her SWAT team is swiftly wiped out. Together they face Prince's flunkies and lieutenants: boxer The Lion (Jamal Ben Saddik), former Congolese child soldier Minza (Rudy Mukendi), Albanian gun runner Tchuko (Soroush Helali), and drug overseer Nikita (Imanuelle Grives), Suleyman's ex.
Variety notes headlong pacing plus quirks—remote-control doors, goats, a knife fight on a waterbed—that stop macho monotony. Boumazoughe's beleaguered resourcefulness sells the near-invincible one-man-army arc.
Why does this high-rise actioner matter for streamers?
For fans hunting international genre kicks, this is Belgian action aiming for overseas heat: diverse casting that mirrors Antwerp's multicultural reality, Dutch and Arabic dialogue, and a production lineup that includes Amazon Prime Video. Track more streaming-ready buzz in our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
Steven Vanvolsem's cinematography bathes grit in candied hues. Editor Brian Ent favors entertainingly messy fights over John Wick dazzle. Maxim Lany and Jonas Nuttin's score shifts from ominous horns to pulsing electronica, with prayer-call-like motifs nodding to the hero's Muslim faith.
The script by Sven Huybrechts, Boumazoughe, and Salahdine Ibnou Kacemi is the most routine piece, Variety says, and the climax could hit harder. Still, Colaers' second feature—after horror comedy Trizombie—is too much fun in the moment to dismiss. Reviewed online July 19, 2026, at Fantasia, it runs 99 minutes.