Inshallah a Boy

Inshallah a Boy doesn’t give any clear answers. Instead, the film offers a look at the life of an ordinary woman in Jordan, going through an ordeal likely faced by many like her.

Although the script, from Al-Rasheed and co-writers Delphine Agut and Rula Nasser, is at times overstuffed and its symbolism obvious, its world is so well built out and Palestinian actress Mouna Hawa’s lead performance is so absorbing, the final result is a mesmerizing piece of personal, yet political filmmaking.

The acting is superb, and the pacing is remarkable. But most importantly, the look into women’s rights, morality, and normalized societal oppression speaks volumes about its country and the road to freedom.

Al Rasheed’s film has traveled the festival circuit from Mumbai to Toronto, the kind of whistle-stop global tour a politically oriented festival title occasionally enjoys when its message is as clear as this and, better yet, when it doesn’t forget to entertain.

Hawa, a Palestinian actress, is commanding as a woman whose future and faith are buffeted by her narrowing options.

Inshallah a Boy moves like a sleek thriller, but is full of the unsolved mysteries and dangling question marks of real life.

Inshallah A Boy delivers a social realist critique of Jordan’s structural oppression of women and girls.