This is a good true and quite terrifying story made into a film, a film most critics feel compelled to praise, but that, in all honesty, is quite long and tiring to watch. The story focuses on the monastery of Tibhirine, Algeria, where eight monks live in peaceful harmony with their surrounding Muslim neighbors. All is well until a Civil War erupts, resulting in waves of violence that cause the monks to question whether they should abandon the monastery out of fear for their lives. They decide to stay and continue to serve (God and their neighbors). The film ends with seven of the monks being kidnapped by the rebels and eventually, as the end-titles tell, being murdered.
The cinematography is beautiful and the acting convincing but… maybe out of concern for authenticity or some other reason, the director chose to never allowed the audience get too close to the monk characters, at least not close enough to deeply care for them. They are made more into symbols, and the few moments where some personality traits are allowed to show only make one ask why not more? Instead we are made to watch their daily routines and prayers again and again and again.
That violence is bad, that all men are created equal regardless of their religious beliefs, that conviction can be admired,  all these are good but the film provides no new perspective or insight I felt were worth the long two hours.