Inshallah a Boy
In this intense drama, a widow pretends to be expecting a baby boy in order to save her daughter and home from a relative exploiting Jordan’s patriarchal inheritance laws.
Please note the film does not have English dialogue or subtitles!
The first Jordanian drama selected to Cannes tells the story of Nawal who is suddenly widowed. With a thriller-like intensity, the movie sheds light on Nawal’s struggles as a single mother against her husband’s relatives and the Jordanian legal system.
According to local law, if a family doesn’t have a male child and the husband dies, the relatives can inherit a part of his estate. When Nawal’s relatives start demanding their share of the estate, Nawal must find extra sources of income on top of holding on to her day job as a nurse and being a mother to her daughter. To buy more time, Nawal lies about being pregnant, which only creates a new set of problems.
Amjad Al Rasheed’s emotional and impressive debut walks in the footsteps of Asghar Farhadi and the Dardenne brothers as it follows the struggles that the fearless main character faces. Thanks to its strong direction, authentic performances, and airtight script, the film transcends a mere portrayal of the Jordanian legal system and becomes a universal exploration of the arbitrary rules imposed by patriarchal societies, and the ways women are forced to submit to them.
Otto Kylmälä (translated by Johanna Järvinen)
Trailer
