Rent The Promise (2016)

an epic tale of love and war with a very serious message - The Promise review by IanF

A great, thought provoking film. The Armenian genocide by Turkey during WW1 is not widely enough known. Because the Turks 'got away with' murdering 1.5 million people - it led directly to the Jewish holocaust in WW2. It is also a very touching love story. It is presented in big scale, Holywood style. A must see.

Watchable would-be epic - The Promise review by Alphaville

Star-crossed lovers play will-they/won’t-they against the backdrop of Armenian genocide in Turkey during WW1. The aching score sets the mood and there are moments both poignant and exciting. However, the film wears its earnestness on its sleeve and in places becomes burdened with its message. It aims for an epic quality but is perhaps best judged on its parts rather than the sum of them. If you’re in the mood for a good wallow, it’s a smoothly filmed piece of entertainment with a message worth airing (Turkey denies the outrage to this day).

Wasted Opportunity - The Promise review by Rm

This important and relatively unknown story deserved a better platform than this film. I will admit though that it was beautifully filmed and featured some stunning locations. The character Michael (Oscar Isaac) was so unnecessarily ridiculous that it took away from the real horror of what happened. You start off thinking he's ok and then slowly he detracts from the film as you end up shouting at him and not caring whether he lives or dies. This was a wasted opportunity and a rather painful watch for all the wrong reasons.

Great film - The Promise review by CB

Loved this film would recommend to anyone acting brilliant story brilliant xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lacked the Impact the Story Needed - The Promise review by KW

Interesting concept to centre a film around the genocide of the ARMENIANS in1914/15 at the hands of the TURKISH. The problem was too many interwoven story lines, that made it difficult to fully understand just what was happening, and why it was! Visually good to look at and the location shots were excellent.

Lives up to its promise - The Promise review by AB

Ostensibly a true story of three families and a triangular romance (comprising the excellent Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon) against the backdrop of the attempted ethnic cleansing of their Armenians by the Ottoman Turks. Assisted by the Germans at the onset of the first world war (yet still denied by the Turkish authorities), these events rarely get aired today.

The photography and the build-up to the atrocities is superbly handled, with a nicely paced story in the foreground. Well worth watching to remind ourselves who came to the Armenians assistance, at least in this episode.