Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda (2004) is Terry George's historical drama you can watch online on iFILM. A hotel manager turns his luxury lobby into a shelter for more than a thousand people while killers roam the streets outside.

Don Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina, who runs a four-star hotel in Kigali. When armed gangs from the ruling majority begin slaughtering their neighbors, Paul opens his doors to anyone he can fit inside. His wife, played by Sophie Okonedo, belongs to the group being hunted, so saving guests means saving his own family too. He has no weapon. What he has is a phone, a cellar full of expensive scotch, contacts among the generals, and a gift for bargaining when everyone else gives up. He bribes, flatters, threatens, and buys time by the hour.

The real Rusesabagina sheltered 1,268 refugees while the wider world looked away, and that gap is the film's true subject. Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix round out the cast. George skips the battle scenes; the terror lives in faces and in a phone line about to go dead. Stream Hotel Rwanda (2004) online on iFILM.