Percussive repercussion, a veritable compulsive, contemporary Merchant of Venice, insult turns to assault and apology seems to be apostasy in the incendiary film sensation, THE INSULT.

In contemporary Beirut, an insult blown out of proportions finds Toni, a Lebanese Christian, and Yasser, a Palestinian refugee, in court.

From secret wounds to traumatic revelations, the media circus surrounding the case puts Lebanon through a social excision, forcing Toni and Yasser to reconsider their lives and prejudices.

THE INSULT is glorious vicarious, subversively submersive cinema, ping ponging subjectivity with objectivity, questioning the points of our moral compasses, examining the mitigating circumstances of the past play on the actions of the present and the hope inherent in humans, hibernating in the permafrost of hate.

Written and directed by Ziad Doueiri, THE INSULT is as much a court martial drama as a straight court room drama, as the motives for the matter emanate from the civil war in Lebanon that ended in 1990 with neither winners nor losers. Everyone was acquitted; general amnesty turned into general amnesia.

But animosity lies dormant in the memory, the corners of the carpet curl to reveal the dirt swept under it and the dust rises causing the truth to cough up.

The conceit of the courtroom drama affords THE INSULT a single place in which to pit two antagonists against each other in face-to-face confrontation, a sort of duel between Toni and Yasser.

Adel Karam as Toni and Kamel El Basha as Yasser are both sublime in their starring, sparring roles. Both men are combatants in a quest for dignity. Both have suffered blows to their honour and to their dignity. Both blame the other and make him responsible for his problems.

Nominated for this years Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film, which it should have won, and WINNER Sydney Film Festival 2018, Audience Award for Best Feature, THE INSULT is without a doubt one of the best pictures of the year.

Where so much film fare is an insult to the intelligence of movie goers, THE INSULT exalts in the optimism of patching up the path to peace.