Beyond the Gates (2007)

84% of critics liked it
(62 reviews)
81% of users liked it
(17,045 ratings)

Two outsiders witness an onslaught of bloody Rwandan genocide in this fact-based drama from director Michael Caton-Jones (Scandal). In 1994, Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy) is a British schoolteacher who has volunteered to spend a year at the École Technique Officielle, a school in the Rwandan capital of… More Two outsiders witness an onslaught of bloody Rwandan genocide in this fact-based drama from director Michael Caton-Jones (Scandal). In 1994, Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy) is a British schoolteacher who has volunteered to spend a year at the École Technique Officielle, a school in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Connor's arrival in Rwanda occurs after the nation's Civil War between the Tutsis and the Hutus has dissipated (c. August 1993). Yet despite the official end of this well-publicized struggle, political negotiations between the two groups have reached a stalemate, and the Hutus begin systematic preparation for a mass-genocide of the Tutsi people (who have assumed political power via the establishment of the RPF). Connor has already seen signs of the coming conflict in the abuse meted out to Marie (Claire-Hope Ashitey), a Tutsi student who was one of his star pupils, as well as the bitter hatred expressed by François (David Gyasi), a Hutu janitor at the school. As the genocide erupts, with extreme Hutu factions slaughtering Tutsis by the thousands, the École Technique becomes a base of operations for Belgian peacekeeping forces from the United Nations. Most extended visitors from the West (especially America and Europe) flee Rwanda as the fighting breaks out, but Connor decides to stay, and in fact strikes up a friendship with Father Christopher (John Hurt), a Catholic priest who has come to the nation as a missionary. As Father Christopher serves mass and strives to offer solace to the Tutsis and moderate Hutus caught in the fighting, he and Connor use the school as a safe haven for Tutsi refugees; however, after five days of genocidal killing, the U.N. troops move out, leaving little hope for the people they were supposed to protect. Beyond the Gates was produced by David Belton, who helped write the film's story; Belton was a correspondent with the BBC who was assigned to Rwanda when the fighting broke out. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 55 min.
Directed By: Michael Caton-Jones
Written By: David Wolstencroft
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Dec 8, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Sep 18, 2007
Studio: IFC First Take

Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
This is a spiritual drama, not a political one, drawing a thick line between our good intentions and the selfish choices we ultimately make.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Though less reassuring and not as dramatically coherent as Hotel Rwanda, it still packs a hard punch.
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Movies about Africa often fall into this trap. Righteous indignation is the exclusive province of non-Africans.
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
A gripping fictionalized account of a 1994 incident in Rwanda that became a shocking emblem of the Rwandan Hutus' mass slaughter of the Tutsis.
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
By keeping most of the action contained to the school grounds and immediate environs, director Michael Caton-Jones creates a claustrophobic atmosphere where fear can fester.
Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
Tense and gut-wrenching, Beyond the Gates is a horrifying story told with grace and compassion.
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Another devastating look at Rwandan genocide.
Christian Toto, Washington Times
Beyond the Gates takes an unflinching look at the start of the Rwandan genocide.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
This film by Michael Caton-Jones feels so authentic you'd swear you'd just tuned in to a BBC broadcast.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
It simply presents, and assumes that we have the inherent morality to understand that what we are watching is evil.
Kam Williams, Mount Desert Islander
A relentlessly-grim reminder of how the rest of the world simply watched when it would have been so easy to put an end to the madness.
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
The film grinds inexorably toward its unsurprising and terrible conclusion with infinite grace but no real suspense.
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
An intense and gripping drama that makes you realize that this page in Rwandan history deserves to be told more than once, lest history forget.
Jeanne Kaplan, Kaplan vs. Kaplan
Make sure you sit through the credits to learn about the victims who survived and worked on this film ---- extraordinary!
David Kaplan, Kaplan vs. Kaplan
The film chronicles man's inhumanity to man during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, (where) selflessness and selfishness stand side by side ----
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
There's little respite from the terrible history that this film retells just a determination (made stronger by the faces we see after the credits) to tell it, to be sure that history doesn't forget.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Douglas W C

This is one incredible and sad movie. Powerful. The question is what would you have done in the same situation and really could you have done anything. Would give it 5 stars but I just could not sit and watch what they did to these people again.
Jens S

Thematically similar to Hotel Rwanda this movie about the genocide of 1994 presents an equally hopeless situation as the angry mob gathers outside a school, (only temporarily) protected by UN soldiers, who refuse to do anything more than their mandate tells them. As the situation gets… More
Thematically similar to Hotel Rwanda this movie about the genocide of 1994 presents an equally hopeless situation as the angry mob gathers outside a school, (only temporarily) protected by UN soldiers, who refuse to do anything more than their mandate tells them. As the situation gets more and more dire, like a noose closing around someone's neck, John Hurt and Hugh Dancy have their moments to shine, just like the whole cast is really convincing. While some Christian analogies are maybe a little over the top, the movie is still extremely thrilling, frustrating and sad. Showing pictures of the crew members who lost someone in the genocide before the end credits basically makes it impossible not to be touched by this really powerful and important film, that would have deserved as much attention as Hotel Rwanda.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]It would be the easiest thing in the world to simply write off "Beyond the Gates" as another tearjerker but it has got more things on its mind than that.(A very unsentimental ending does raise it to another level.) In telling the story about two white… More
[font=Century Gothic]It would be the easiest thing in the world to simply write off "Beyond the Gates" as another tearjerker but it has got more things on its mind than that.(A very unsentimental ending does raise it to another level.) In telling the story about two white Englishmen, Christopher(John Hurt, who is fantastic), a priest who intially believes the situation in Rwanda in 1994 to be no more serious than a coup, and Joe(Hugh Dancy), a neophyte teacher, who give sanctuary to thousands of Tutsi's during the resulting genocide, the movie covers a lot of the same ground that "Hotel Rwanda" and the documentary "Shake Hands with the Devil" have already covered, especially in the impossible situation that the United Nations troops were placed in, under orders not to fire their weapons. But the movie turns a mirror onto its own Eurocentrism. Joe gets Rachel(Nicola Walker), a reporter, to cover their situation by mentioning the Europeans there and later that same reporter confesses her own racism in covering similar atrocities in the Balkans. [/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]All of which brings to mind the non-action that has been happening towards Darfur the last couple of years. Just as there is no difference between Hutu and Tutsi, there is no difference between black and white. We are all one people on this planet and must come to the aid of those in desperate straits no matter where they are.[/font]
Leo L

OUTSTANDING MOVIE!! Here's an amazing movie that depicts upon human tragedy that occurred in 1994 Rwanda. Highly touching story plot. Amazing performances by Hugh Dancy and John Hurt. Definitely a must-see.

Cast

            John Hurt as Father Christopher

            Hugh Dancy as Joe Connor

            Claire-Hope Ashitey as Marie

            Dominique Horwitz as Captain Delon

            Louis Mahoney as Sibomana

            Nicola Walker as Rachel

            Steve Toussaint as Roland

            David Gyasi as Francois

            Susan Nalwoga as Edda

            Victor Power as Julius

            Jack Pierce as Mark

            Musa Kasonka Jr. as Bonfiace

            Kizito Ssentamu Kayiira as Pierre

            Denis Nsanzamahoro as Road Block Militia

            Francine Naomi Umutoni as Rosa

            Alexander Ikuzo as Claude

            Charles Kayondo as Felicien

            Abdul Sebagangali as Rwandan Soldier

            Molly Rutagarama as Isabelle

            Arthur Nkusi as Aaron

            Eugene Rugwiza as Baptiste

            Raymond Kalisa as Rwandan Soldier

            Rose-Mary Uwimana as Frightened Woman

            Venuste Karasira as Economist

            Jean De La Croix as Road Block Militia

            Ndabananiye Samuel Kyaganbidwa as Road Block Militia

            Joseph Saad as Road Block Militia

            Jean Kennedy Mazimpaka as Road Block Victim

            Jean Paul Nkundabanyanga as Interahamwe Intruder

            Alain Nizet as French Commander
See full cast