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Four radicalised British Muslim men living in [[Sheffield]] (three of whom are [[British Pakistani]]) aspire to become [[suicide bomb]]ers: Omar, who is deeply critical of [[Western world|Western]] society and [[Interventionism (politics)|interventionism]]; his dim-witted and anxious cousin Waj; Barry, a bad-tempered and rash English convert; and the naive Faisal. When Omar and Waj travel to an [[al-Qaeda]]-affiliated training camp in [[Pakistan]], Barry recruits a fifth member, Hassan, after witnessing him pretending to commit a suicide bombing at a conference. The training in Pakistan ends in disaster when Omar accidentally destroys part of the camp attempting to shoot down a suspected drone; the pair are forced to flee. Omar later uses the experience to assert authority on the group on his return to Britain.
The group disagrees about what the target should be. Barry wants to bomb a local [[mosque]] as a [[false flag]] operation to "radicalise the moderates" and Faisal suggests blowing up a [[Boots UK|Boots]] because it sells [[contraceptive]]s and tampons. Ahmed, Omar's conservative, pacifist brother, tries to talk him out of doing anything violent; however, Omar and his wife mock Ahmed for keeping his wife in a small room. After the group begins production of the explosives, Hassan is left to watch the safehouse as Barry, Waj and Faisal test detonate a small amount of [[TATP]] contained in a microwave, using a nearby fireworks show to cover the sound.
When they return, they find Hassan dancing with an oblivious neighbour. The group suspects they have been compromised and transport the explosives to a new location in grocery bags. Faisal trips up while crossing a field and is killed in the explosion. This angers Omar, who berates the others and leaves. Faisal's head is found, tipping off the authorities, and Omar tells the others and they reconcile. Omar decides to target the upcoming [[London Marathon]] due to having access to mascot costumes, which they use to conceal the bombs. Meanwhile, armed police raid Omar's brother's house.
At the Marathon, Waj expresses doubts about the morality of their plot, but Omar convinces him to go through with it. A police officer approaches the group, which leads Hassan to attempt to alert the officer about their plot, but is killed when Barry remotely detonates his bomb. The remaining three panic and run away as the police search for them. Omar has a change of heart, feeling guilt about manipulating Waj into dying for a cause he does not understand and attempts to prevent the attack. Two police snipers receive Omar's description, but one of them mistakenly kills a bystander in a [[Wookiee]] costume.
Waj is cornered by police in a [[kebab]] shop and takes the staff hostage. Omar calls Waj and convinces him to let all but one of the hostages go. Barry finds Omar, snatches his phone, and swallows the [[Subscriber identity module|SIM card]]. However, as Barry begins to choke, a well-meaning passer-by attempts to perform the [[Choking#Abdominal thrusts (Heimlich maneuver)|Heimlich manoeuvre]], forcing Omar to flee before Barry's bombs are inadvertently detonated.
Omar hurries to a nearby phone store to buy a new SIM card to contact Waj but leaves empty-handed. He spots a colleague and borrows his phone. Omar attempts to talk Waj down, but his call is interrupted when the police charge in and kill the remaining hostage, whom they mistake for Waj. Waj's bomb is then detonated, killing everyone in the kebab shop. Distraught, Omar walks into a nearby Boots pharmacy and detonates his own bomb.
In an epilogue, it is revealed the police later arrested Omar's innocent brother as a terrorist and abducted him to a [[black site]]; that they deflect responsibility for shooting the hostage and the bystander; and that Omar unknowingly killed [[Osama bin Laden]] when misfiring the rocket in Pakistan.
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The UK première took place at the [[National Media Museum]] as part of Bradford International Film Festival on 25 March 2010,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/biff/10/film_detail.asp?filmid=892 |title=Four Lions – Bradford International Film Festival 2010|publisher=[[National Media Museum]]|access-date=24 March 2010}} {{Dead link|date=November 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> and was followed by a nationwide release on 7 May.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/feb/06/four-lions-chris-morris-writers-sundance |title=Four Lions Sundance diary |newspaper=The Guardian |date=6 February 2010 |access-date=8 February 2010 |location=London |archive-date=27 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227180810/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/feb/06/four-lions-chris-morris-writers-sundance |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Variety>{{cite news|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941963.html |title=Four Lions Review – Read Variety's Analysis of The Movie Four Lions|first=Justin|last=Chang|date=24 January 2010|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=7 February 2010|location=New York}}</ref>
The UK premiere at the National Media Museum in Bradford was followed by a question and answer session with Chris Morris, [[Jesse Armstrong]], [[Sam Bain]], three of the principal actors, and two of the producers. Morris stated that he does not find the film at all controversial and that attempting to cause controversy is "one of the most boring things you can do".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e25GlumVweI/|title=Chris Morris Four Lions UK Premiere BIFF 2010|publisher=YouTube |access-date=14 May 2010}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead
Despite its acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, ''Four Lions'' failed to find a distributor in the U.S. for nine months, until the newly formed [[Drafthouse Films]] picked it up. The film had a [[limited release]] in the US on 5 November 2010.<ref name="drafthouse">{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/articles/chris-morris,47210/|title=Chris Morris Interview|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=4 November 2010|access-date=4 November 2010|archive-date=6 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106221749/http://www.avclub.com/articles/chris-morris,47210/|url-status=live}}</ref>
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[[Category:Films set in Yorkshire]]
[[Category:Films shot in Sheffield]]
[[Category:English-language black comedy films]]
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