Mounia Akl's film tackles an important and underdiscussed aspect of an important subject. How do you persist as people, as a family, when the world seems to be falling apart around you?

| Sep 2, 2022

Part family drama, part political statement, it asks at what point isolation becomes a selfish choice instead of a protective one, and if it’s possible to love your country but also hide from it.

| Jul 18, 2022

Working with powerhouse performances from Oscar-nominated Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki and Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, Mounia Akl comes out swinging as the next big thing in Middle Eastern cinema.

| Original Score: A- | Jul 15, 2022

Akl, making her directorial debut, takes resourceful advantage of her freedom as a filmmaker, creating some startling effects.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 15, 2022

Akl's assured direction captures the promise of wanting change as well as the disappointment of not quite knowing how to achieve it.

| Jul 14, 2022

A smart and sensitive film.

| Jul 14, 2022

A terrific feature debut from Mounia Akl which works both as a compelling domestic drama and an elegant political allegory.

| Sep 16, 2021

A heartfelt charmer that feels sharper and truer in its lovably eccentric character-building than in its grander, more political statements.

| Sep 14, 2021

Akl has a talent for both the surreal flourish and the grounded insight. In this case, the bigger picture and the larger point are what prove elusive, leaving the whole enterprise feeling sadly schematic.

| Sep 5, 2021