Horses of God (French: Les chevaux de Dieu, Arabic: يا خيل الله, translit.

It was directed by Nabil Ayouch, and based on the novel The Stars of Sidi Moumen by Moroccan writer Mahi Binebine.

Yachine (whose real name is Tarek),[a] his violent older brother Hamid,[b] and Yachine's friends Nabil (son of Tamou, a local prostitute and singer),[c] pot-smoking Fouad, and Khalil live in extreme poverty in Sidi Moumen, a shanty town on the edge of Casablanca in Morocco.

The boys steal liquor from Khalil's father's wedding, and Hamid rapes a drunk Nabil in front of the others.

Nouceir, a former neighborhood enemy and now one of Hamid's close friends, intimidates Khalil and Fouad into joining the cell also.

[e] Zoubeir tells Tarek, Nabil, and Fouad they are being admitted to the innermost councils of the cell, which leaves Hamid jealous and angry.

An unidentified emir arrives and reinforces the message of martyrdom, telling Hamid, Tarek, Fouad, Nabil, and Nouceir, "Take care, children of Islam, never to become like those who cling to life down here and fear to become martyrs.

They are amazed at the city's wealth, and surprised to see vast forests and rivers (unlike the desert they have lived in).

The film ends with children in Sidi Moumen playing football in the dark, and pausing to listen to the explosions in the city.

Horses of God deals with many themes, including radicalization, terrorism, poverty, machismo, and sexuality.

[2] By following the main characters from their childhoods into their adulthoods, the film demystifies this impoverished North African community by making their embrace of terrorism frighteningly comprehensible through a sense of tragic inevitability.

This is what can lead, in the Arab world and in Morocco in particular, to a drift for those who live in these lawless areas where only religious mafias are able to meet needs that no one else takes.