The Thousands

Is it “too soon” for a farce about bumbling English jihadis? Perhaps for some. Fearless British satirist Chris Morris (Brass Eye, Nathan Barley) certainly plumbs the grim depths of homegrown terrorism. But along with David Baddiel’s The Reluctant Infidel, Four Lions marks a watershed in British ethnic-tension cinema: militant Islam is something to laugh at. And it’s, ahem, explosively funny.

They call themselves lions, but our would-be suicide bombers are more like bleating, unshepherded lambs. Morris’s use of CCTV and night-vision footage implies surveillance, but to the contrary, nobody is watching our inept heroes constantly f*ck up their martyrdom videos, train crows as airborne mujahideen, humiliate themselves at a Pakistani terrorist training camp, and communicate using a kids’ internet forum called Puffin Party. The cops, and incurious bystanders, are just as hopeless.

That’s why it’s disconcerting that ringleader Omar (Riz Ahmed) is witty and likeable, with an adorable kid and a beautiful wife who fully supports being widowed so farcically. Even as Omar begins to doubt his mission, he’s trapped by his pride, loyalty and obstinacy. It’s kebabs for thought that suicide bombers might be more driven by bravado than ideological conviction.