The film introduces Vyan, played by the impressive Avan Jamal, a 24-year-old Kurdish émigré visiting Iraqi Kurdistan in 2014 when Islamic State (IS) launches a brutal attack. After her parents are murdered and she and her younger sister Helin are sold into sex slavery, Vyan demonstrates incredible resilience, killing her captor and escaping to join an elite unit of female Peshmerga snipers.

As Vyan's poetic narration reveals, "Peshmerga" translates to "before death," signifying fighters who enter combat not out of fear, but out of strength. Vyan embodies this fearlessness, having reportedly eliminated over a hundred enemy combatants in three years. Her formidable reputation is such that IS fighters, who believe "No Paradise If You Are Killed by A Woman," have placed a million-dollar bounty on her head.

After a heroic act preventing an IS suicide truck bomber from attacking her unit, a heavily wounded Vyan returns to Norway for recovery. There, she faces a stark choice from a government official: accept a new identity and protection due to the threat she poses to other Norwegian citizens, or face prosecution for fighting for another country. Her decision is made when a phone call confirms her sister Helin is still trapped in Mosul, held by an IS fighter known as the Swedish sniper. Loyal to her family, Vyan prepares for what could be her final, solitary mission to rescue Helin.

The film's latter half transforms into a gripping, almost video game-like experience, as Vyan meticulously navigates tunnels and the devastated landscapes left by IS. It offers a more nuanced and detailed portrayal of a sniper's lonely patience and strategic logic than previous films like Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper." With the aid of a friendly Kurdish commander from Iraqi government forces in Mosul, Vyan works to locate the IS snipers preventing civilians from escaping the ravaged city.

Director Halkawt Mustafa, whose inspiration for "No Paradise" stemmed from his 2015 TV project "The Women ISIS Fears" and his experience as a war photographer witnessing powerful female fighters, dedicates the film to his daughters. The movie proudly weaves in Kurdish customs and traditions, from the "singing" of Vyan’s rifle to the traditional tunes performed by her Peshmerga captain and the Kurdish commander in Mosul.

Technically, the film is a polished achievement. Norwegian DP John Erling H. Fredriksen's prowling camerawork is a highlight, as is the use of actual Mosul locations. The shocking ruins of the once-thriving city powerfully convey the brutality of the campaign to liberate it from IS. The tension-building sound design by Mattias Eklund and Jan Kasskawo also deserves special mention, particularly in a film where the main character often operates in silence.