A teen road-trip yarn with a twist, exploring the lure of religious fundamentalism and a rot at the core of the British state.
In 2015, the UK-born Shamima Begum fled to Syria with a desire to join Islamic State, a decision which resulted in much knee-jerk vilification in the national media. It also led those more empathetic towards the enigmas of human behaviour to try to comprehend why she did what she did. This timely debut feature by Nadia Fall, which is scripted by Suhayla El-Bushra, employs a pair of avuncular avatars for Begum in the form of giggly teenage schoolgirls Doe (Ebada Hassan), of Somali heritage, and Mina (Safiyya Ingar), of Pakistani heritage. It is insistent (to put it lightly) in delivering a case for young women who are driven towards taking such an existential leap of faith.
We watch as the pair head off on what seems like a mates summertime trip abroad, excited by their newfound independence and thrilled to be uncoupled from the drudgeries of school and family. Yet it’s quickly revealed that they are heading down the rabbit hole of religious indoctrination towards what they believe will be a more poetic and easy life in Syria among like-minded, liberated women. The siren song of disembodied voices and cannily-edited social media propaganda has done its work, and the girls have made their minds up.
There’s an easy chemistry between the pair, and Hassan and Ingar do well to ping off of each other with their mouthy repartee and petty squabbles. The script, unfortunately, never really meets them where they stand, nor does it hit a level of authenticity that allows for any kind of true dramatic immersion in the occasionally farfetched situation. Doe and Mina fly to Turkey where they’re supposed to meet their connection, but when no-one shows up there’s an extended stretch of whimsical problem solving where they’re given pause to second guess their own motivations. It takes up the majority of the film and doesn’t add up to much.
Meanwhile, there are regular flashbacks to Doe’s life in the UK where she’s the subject of bullying, racism and gaslighting. There’s also the matter of the cultural drift from her mother who has shacked up with an abusive white guy, which is perhaps her attempt to locate some semblance of security in her new home. Despite being the more charismatic and combustible of the two, Mina is framed as a more secondary character when her traumas are framed as Doe’s memories.
After the first or second flashback we understand why the twosome have decided to fly the coop. After the 20th, there’s really a sense of, yes, okay, we get it. This isn’t to reject the argument that often people have legitimate reasons to want to emigrate, start anew or join a fundamentalist religious faction, but it is a criticism of the film’s general lack of subtlety and a refusal to show rather than tell. In the end, the film plays too much like an apologia for figures such as Begum, framing them as victims rather than people with their own, perhaps unpalatable agency.