‘Birds of War’ Movie Review – Is It Worth Watching?

Birds of War is an intimate and eye-opening documentary that transforms the horrors of conflict into an unexpectedly tender, unconventional love story. The film follows Janay Boulos, a London-based Lebanese BBC journalist, and Abd Alkader Habak, a fiercely patriotic Syrian activist and cameraman on the ground in Aleppo between 2011 and 2025. The couple double as directors on this portrait documentary. The film is named after the affectionate terms “bird” and “little bird” they call one another and also serves as a play on words with the Arabic word for war having one letter difference: think a blend of lovebirds and warbirds.

What begins as a strictly professional relationship – born out of the BBC’s need for raw footage from inside besieged Syria – gradually deepens over a 13-year period into a profound long-distance romance. Mining a massive personal archive of over 60 terabytes of footage, text messages and raw voice notes, the film charts their parallel lives across revolutions, war and exile.

The documentary also serves as a timeline for the Syrian conflict and the shifting political landscape of Lebanon. It captures the terrifying reality of the bombings in Aleppo, where Habak risks his life to document the truth, contrasted with the quiet, domestic space the two attempt to build through the connectivity of digital screens.

“A love without borders.”

The narrative shifts dramatically when Habak makes international headlines. After a civilian evacuation convoy is bombed, he’s captured on camera dropping his equipment to carry a critically injured child to safety. This viral moment brings him global recognition but also makes him a target, forcing a move to Idlib and escalating the dangers separating the couple.

Ultimately, Birds of War is a moving portrait of a fiercely committed journalistic couple. The documentary balances devastating visuals of a war meant to crush the human spirit with the quiet, comforting sanctuary the couple find in one another. A behind-the-scenes foray into war journalism, it’s also a powerful testament to passion, family and the enduring resilience of connection against all odds.

The bottom line: Riveting