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Waiting for the Barbarians (2017) movie poster

Timeline

Waiting for the Barbarians (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2017 · 76 mins · French
JustWatch #804 69
Directed by
Eugène Green
Starring
Valentine Carette, Hélène Gratet, Fitzgerald Berthon, Chloé Chevalier, Anne-Sophie Bailly, Arnaud Vrech

A group of individuals grapples with modern anxieties and the search for meaning in a world saturated by social media. They seek guidance from a sorcerer in this unusual blend of performance art, ghost story, and exploration of consciousness.

Drama Cast, crew & box office
On this page (5)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (12)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Waiting for the Barbarians (2017)

Where can you watch Waiting for the Barbarians? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Netflix Standard: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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12 events in order · contains spoilers

Waiting for the Barbarians Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Waiting for the Barbarians (2017) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Fragile peace at the desert outpost

    The Magistrate runs the remote desert outpost with patient diplomacy, keeping the peace through careful administration. Over years, only minor misunderstandings disrupt the routine. He relies on restraint and established custom to prevent escalation.

    Where
    Desert frontier outpost

  2. Colonel Joll arrives with a brutal plan

    Colonel Joll arrives as the Empire's hard-edged enforcer, pushing a procedural, coercive approach to 'truth.' He asserts authority that overmatches the Magistrate's diplomacy. The centre's mysterious plan looms, but is not explained.

    Where
    Outpost

  3. Interrogation under torture

    Joll insists on following his process, subjecting an innocent man and his nephew to interrogation through force. The tortures are swift and brutal, shaking the outpost's sense of ethics. The Magistrate watches, torn between legality and mercy.

    Where
    Outpost

  4. Detachment escorts prisoners to the tribe

    To press his claim, Joll forces the tortured nephew to guide him and a detachment into the tribe's territory, where numerous women and elderly men are taken as prisoners of war. The act demonstrates the empire's willingness to break families to extract confessions. The outpost becomes a stage for a harsher order.

    Where
    Desert tribal area

  5. Joll departs; prisoners are released

    The next day Colonel Joll departs, leaving the outpost behind. The Magistrate uses the absence to act, immediately releasing the detained prisoners and sending them home in the hope of restoring some humanity to the situation.

    Where
    Outpost

  6. Ailing prisoner receives aid

    A former prisoner, with two broken ankles, is seen panhandling in the streets. The Magistrate offers food and shelter, and attempts to heal her injuries. He learns of the torture she endured and the death of her father, strengthening his resolve to help her return to her people.

    Where
    Outpost streets

  7. Rumours of lust cast suspicion

    Some soldiers misread the magistrate's kindness as an act of lust, assuming he intends to keep the girl as a concubine. The rumor spreads through the fortress, corroding trust in the magistrate. He faces investigations and social punishment along with the girl’s trauma.

    Where
    Outpost

  8. Attempt to mend ties with the nomads

    After a long desert journey, the Magistrate approaches the nomads in the mountains, hoping to restore relations. The tribes are wary and angry, but his act of mercy toward one of their own buys him a fragile respite. He returns with only guarded acceptance.

    Where
    Desert mountains

  9. Mandel takes command and accuses treachery

    Officer Mandel, Colonel Joll's underling, is assigned to command the fort and immediately arrests the Magistrate, accusing him of treachery and stripping him of office. The political grip tightens as the empire hunts for signs of disloyalty. The Magistrate is dragged into custody and treated as a suspect.

    Where
    Fort

  10. Public shaming and confiscation

    The Magistrate is publicly shamed, and his home and possessions are confiscated. He endures a crushing fall from grace while Colonel Joll departs with a large force to wipe out the mountain nomads. The state drama leaves him isolated and powerless.

    Where
    Fort

  11. Destitution and mercy at the edge of town

    Disgraced and poor, the Magistrate is taken in by a former servant who feeds and clothes him. He exists on the margins of the town, his authority erased but his humanity momentarily rekindled by the care of a friend.

    Where
    Town outskirts

  12. Nomads unite; signs of impending siege

    Colonel Joll's campaign unites the dispersed nomads into a single, formidable army. A horse bearing the mutilated corpse of one of Joll's men rides into the fort, a grim symbol of the campaign's cost. As the army closes in, the remaining townsfolk feel the shadow of an approaching siege.

    Where
    Fort / frontier town

Last updated: October 27, 2025 at 16:47

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Timeline questions answered

Waiting for the Barbarians Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Waiting for the Barbarians (2017): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Colonel Joll torture innocent people at the outpost?

Colonel Joll represents a shift in the Empire's governance from diplomatic restraint to coercive control. He operates under a secret plan from the empire's center and believes torture is a legitimate method to extract so-called truth. His brutal interrogation of the innocent man and his nephew demonstrates the Empire's willingness to break families and destroy lives in pursuit of confessions, regardless of guilt.

  • colonel joll
  • torture
  • interrogation
  • empire
  • brutality
Q2

Why does the Magistrate help the former prisoner woman?

After Colonel Joll departs, the Magistrate releases the prisoners as an act of humanity. When he later encounters a former prisoner with two broken ankles panhandling in the streets, he offers her food, shelter, and medical care. Learning about the torture she endured and her father's death strengthens his resolve to help her return to her people, representing his moral opposition to the Empire's cruelty.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, the Magistrate released the prisoners Joll had taken, attempting to restore some humanity to the outpost.

  • magistrate
  • prisoner woman
  • compassion
  • mercy
Q3

Why does Mandel accuse the Magistrate of treachery?

After Colonel Joll leaves, Officer Mandel takes command of the fort and immediately targets the Magistrate. Mandel represents the new regime's suspicion and paranoia. He views the Magistrate's acts of mercy toward the prisoners as signs of disloyalty to the Empire. The political atmosphere has shifted to hunting for signs of conspiracy, and the Magistrate's humanitarian actions are interpreted as treason.

  • mandel
  • accusation
  • treachery
  • empire
  • power
Q4

What happens to Colonel Joll after he leaves the fort?

Colonel Joll departs with a large force to wipe out the mountain nomads. His campaign backfires spectacularly, he returns with only a handful of survivors, completely detached from reality, sitting silently in his coach. The town braces for violence as his forces collapse, and he and the Magistrate must flee together while townspeople throw rocks at them.

  • colonel joll
  • defeat
  • survivors
  • collapse
Q5

Why do the mountain nomads unite into a single army?

Colonel Joll's brutal campaign against the mountain nomads inadvertently unites the previously scattered tribes. Facing the Empire's attempt to wipe them out, the dispersed nomadic tribes combine into one formidable force. This united army becomes the threat that approaches the town at the end, turning the Empire's violent campaign into the very catastrophe they sought to prevent.

Foreshadowing: The horse bearing the mutilated corpse of one of Joll's men rides into the fort as a grim symbol of the campaign's cost.

  • nomads
  • tribes
  • unite
  • army
  • resistance
Q6

Why is the Magistrate publicly shamed and stripped of everything?

After Mandel takes command, the Magistrate is accused of consorting with the enemy and labeled a traitor. He is publicly humiliated, his home and possessions are confiscated, and he is thrown out of the power structures he once led. This crushing fall from grace reflects the Empire's new order, where compassion is punished as disloyalty and humanitarian acts are reframed as crimes against the state.

  • magistrate
  • shame
  • confiscation
  • disgrace
Q7

What does the cloud of dust at the end of the movie mean?

At the end, a vast cloud of dust rises on the horizon as thousands of nomadic warriors advance toward the town. This signals that the cycle of fear and violence is far from over, the very "barbarians" the Empire feared are arriving. The ending is bleak, showing the town destroyed, the Magistrate shattered, and no hope for resolution, only continued conflict.

Foreshadowing: The Magistrate's earlier act of mercy toward the nomad girl and his attempt to restore peace have led to this moment.

  • ending
  • dust
  • nomads
  • cycle
  • violence
Q8

Why do soldiers suspect the Magistrate of wanting the prisoner woman as a concubine?

When the Magistrate offers food, shelter, and medical care to the injured former prisoner, some soldiers misread his genuine kindness as lust or an ulterior motive. The rumor spreads through the fortress that he intends to keep the girl as a concubine. This misinterpretation corrodes trust in the Magistrate and adds to the social punishment he faces, showing how his compassion is twisted by those who cannot understand genuine mercy.

  • rumor
  • concubine
  • soldiers
  • suspicion
Q9

Why does the Magistrate journey to the mountain nomads after Joll's departure?

After the traumatic events with Colonel Joll, the Magistrate undertakes a long and arduous journey through the desert to reach the mountain nomads. He hopes to restore diplomatic relations and reopen channels of trust that Joll destroyed. Though the tribes are wary and emotionally scarred from the Empire's attacks, the Magistrate's reputation, and his act of mercy toward one of their own, buys him a fragile, guarded acceptance.

  • magistrate
  • nomads
  • journey
  • diplomacy

Movie threads

More Movies Like Waiting for the Barbarians, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Waiting for the Barbarians tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Slow burn political dread like in Waiting for the Barbarians

Atmospheric tales where oppressive systems slowly crush individual conscience. If you liked the oppressive atmosphere and moral decay in Waiting for the Barbarians, explore these films. This thread features movies with a slow burn pace and heavy emotional weight, focusing on characters grappling with brutal authority and systemic injustice, leading to bleak endings.

  • oppressive
  • morally conflicted
  • somber
  • anxious
  • claustrophobic
  • dread
  • Tone: bleak, oppressive, morally conflicted
  • Pacing: slow burn, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories typically follow a protagonist, often a functionary of a corrupt system, who experiences a crisis of conscience. The narrative builds tension not through action, but through the gradual unveiling of brutality and the protagonist's powerlessness to stop it, culminating in their personal and societal collapse.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared atmosphere of oppressive dread, slow pacing that amplifies psychological tension, and a relentless focus on the human cost of power. They deliver a heavy, intellectually and emotionally demanding experience centered on moral failure.

Waiting for the Barbarians movie poster

Waiting for the Barbarians

2020
Waiting for the Barbarians movie poster

Waiting for the Barbarians

2017
Fires on the Plain movie poster

Fires on the Plain

2014
Nineteen Eighty-Four movie poster

Nineteen Eighty-Four

1984
Werckmeister Harmonies movie poster

Werckmeister Harmonies

2001
Gold movie poster

Gold

2022
The Devil's Bath movie poster

The Devil's Bath

2024
Time of the Wolf movie poster

Time of the Wolf

2004

Movies about civilization's collapse like Waiting for the Barbarians

Stories set at the edge of empire, where order gives way to brutality. Find movies similar to Waiting for the Barbarians that explore themes of colonialism and the collapse of order. These stories often feature isolated settings, a bleak tone, and focus on the psychological impact of injustice and the consequences of violence, posing tough questions about humanity.

  • isolated
  • somber
  • morally conflicted
  • thought-provoking
  • desolate
  • anxious
  • Tone: somber, bleak, thought-provoking
  • Pacing: deliberate, slow burn
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves an isolated community or individual representing an empire or system. Their sense of superiority is challenged, leading to paranoia and escalating violence. The story deconstructs the myth of civility, showing that the true threat often comes from within the fortress walls, not from the outside 'barbarians'.

Why they belong together: These movies share a specific thematic focus on colonialism, power corruption, and the myth of civilization. They create a somber, isolated mood and often feature a slow, deliberate pace that allows for a deep exploration of the psychological and moral consequences of maintaining power through brutality.

Waiting for the Barbarians movie poster

Waiting for the Barbarians

2019
Waiting for the Barbarians movie poster

Waiting for the Barbarians

2017
Waiting for the Barbarians movie poster

Waiting for the Barbarians

2020
The Seventh Continent (1989) movie poster

The Seventh Continent (1989)

Independencia movie poster

Independencia

2009
A Handful of Dust movie poster

A Handful of Dust

1988
The Great Silence movie poster

The Great Silence

2022
Evil Does Not Exist movie poster

Evil Does Not Exist

2024

Every angle

Waiting for the Barbarians (2017) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Waiting for the Barbarians in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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