13 DAYS, 13 NIGHTS (13 JOURS, 13 NUITS) (2025)

Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Martin Bourboulon
Cast: Roschdy Zem, Lyna Khoudri, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Christophe Montenez, Nicolas Bridet, Sina Parvaneh, Shoaib Saïd
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 4 December 2025

Synopsis: Kabul, August 15, 2021. As US troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan, the Taliban storm the capital and seize power, plunging the city into chaos. Thousands of Afghans flock to the last safe haven: the French Embassy, where Commander Mohamed Bida and his elite crew ensure security. Trapped inside along with hundreds of civilians, Bida—with the help of Eva, a young French-Afghan humanitarian worker—must negotiate with the Taliban to organize a convoy in a last-ditch attempt to evacuate. Thus begins a race against time to reach the airport and flee the hell of Kabul before it’s too late. Based on the incredible true story of Commander Mohamed Bida, (from the eponymous novel published by Denoël).

Movie Review:

By now, you would probably have heard that an Afghan immigrant had shot two National Guard soldiers, killing one and seriously wounding the other. The said Afghan immigrant was part of a CIA elite counter-terrorism unit within Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban on behalf of the US government, and evacuated from the country in 2021 after the US withdrew following a two-decade occupation in response to the 9/11 attacks.

That dose of reality makes ’13 Days 13 Nights’ even more sobering, a documentary-style thriller based on the true story of France’s successful evacuation of its own nationals plus hundreds of Afghan citizens out of Kabul before it fell completely into the hands of the Taliban (who has ruled it ever since). It was chaotic and even frantic to say the least, given the astonishing pace at which the Taliban advanced within the country to reclaim it from the US, as well as the desperation of its citizens to get out before being trapped under its oppressive and repressive reign.

Because it is adapted from the book by the real-life French elite police officer Mohamed ‘Mo’ Bida, the movie largely tracks the events of the titular 13 days from the eyes of Mo, whose level-headedness and ingenuity ensured that his men and the Afghan refugees were able to make it safely from the French embassy to Kabul Airport. From letting Afghan citizens take refuge within the embassy compound, to brokering safe passage for his convoy with the Taliban commanders, to the nail-biting journey in the middle of the night, and finally to ensuring that those on board a bus which got stranded along the way get into the airport, it is a harrowing watch through and through.

Given how the conclusion is foregone, director and co-writer Martin Bourbolon instead focus on recreating those tense, taut moments. Bourbolon doesn’t oversentimentalise the proceedings, preferring instead to keep it real and immerse us in the sense of jeopardy during this period; in particular, a standoff between the evacuation convoy and a rogue Taliban unit who insists on searching the convoy for its enemies is especially memorable, demonstrating just how the various local factions were jostling for power and influence amidst the chaos.

For the uninitiated, Bourbolon’s last project was the pair of ‘Three Musketeers’ films, and ’13 Days 13 Nights’ demonstrates the helmer’s versatility, switching effectively from period blockbuster to real-life drama. Bourbolon also has a good eye for casting, and here scores with Zem as Mo, balancing a weathered, world-weary attitude with a deep-seated commitment to safeguarding human life and humanity.  It is to Zem’s credit that we emerge thinking how the world can be a better, safer place with such heroes, especially amidst a more dangerous, fragmented world.

Like we said at the beginning, ’13 Days 13 Nights’ gains newfound significance against the backdrop of the events of recent weeks, reinforcing the shadow and scars cast by the two-decade long US occupation of Afghanistan that ultimately hardly led to a better life for the Afghans and a whole lot of damage in between. There is a good dose of French nationalism woven within too, but thankfully none too in-your-face to turn you off. One of the last scenes is of Mo pausing to pay his respects to a group of fallen US soldiers laid in coffins, reinforcing once again the cost of the conflict measured not in statistics but the good men and women who were there out of duty to country..

Movie Rating:

(Tense, sober and thoughtful, this dramatisation of the true story of one French commander's quest to evacuate his people and Afghan citizens looking to escape the Taliban is a timely reminder of the cost of that conflict) 

Review by Gabriel Chong