Bassam and George grew up together in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon. Their home, a city fractured by war, offers only fragments of beauty and happiness between the falling bombs. But now they are older and they have a choice: to remain in the exhausted, corrupt place of their birth, or to leave forever.

Bassam, a dreamer but a pragmatist, chooses one path – the West and a better life – but George is seduced by the power that comes with violence. Before long he is up to his neck in the stench of the city’s underworld, embracing a life of violence, torture and drug-running. But even as these two old friends move in different directions they find their paths colliding, with explosive consequences. A story about youth, anger and friendship, DE NIRO’S GAME also shows how people create a space for themselves to live and to love amid the rubble and desolation of war. Filmic and exciting, tense and beautifully written, this is an unforgettable Middle Eastern story.