Movie

Coal

2025 · 91 min

A thoughtful, globe-spanning essay film that links personal history to fossil fuels and war, asking for patience and reflection.

Overview: CHARBON depicts how Europe was built on fossil fuels over the past 100 years. And how it was torn apart by wars that were the result of these same fossil fuels. During 3 trips to Ukraine, Italy and Iraq, filmmaker Manu Riche explains how he and his French-German family are inseparably connected to the fate of the Iraqi filmmaker and refugee Hayder Helo.
How it feels: Earnest, melancholic, tense and dark. Measured and demanding.
About: War, power, politics, environment
Content: Mild violence and language. No gore or sexual content.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown

Tone: earneststrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 2 of 3
tensestrength 1 of 3
darkstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: war
power
politics
environment
identity
Places: countryside
big city
road trip
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: documentary
true story
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex none

All scales, 0 to 10

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Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Genres: documentary
Directed by: Manu Riche
Written by: Emanuele Trevi, Manu Riche
Starring: Dario, Enrico, Gaetan, Sergiy Havrylyuk, Svitlana Krakowska, Anastasia Lebid, Dmytro Lebid, Makar Lebid
Cinematography: Renaat Lambeets
Runtime: 91 min
Country: Belgium, Italy
Languages: Arabic, Dutch, English, Italian