Set in two very different places, the second feature from Iraqi-born Austrian director Cordwin Ayoub (Shams) follows a mixed martial arts fighter who has reached the end of her competitive career. Faced with a lack of opportunities in her small Austrian town, she accepts a temporary job training the daughters of a wealthy but shady Jordanian family. While the multiple ellipses may annoy viewers who rely on narrative, others will enjoy the mood Ayoub creates and the way she plays with audience expectations. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Competition as well as acclaim from independent film critics, and is expected to be in demand at upcoming festivals.
After her last bout in the mixed martial arts ring left her exhausted and defeated, Sara (Florentina Holzinger) falls into a state of depression. Previously, she lived to train and compete, but now she struggles to figure out her next move.
Sarah starts giving classes at a local gym; unfortunately, her schedule is a bit too strict for amateurs who only want to look good in their boxing gloves. Her bourgeois older sister, Pia (Tanja Ivankovic), a new mother, urges her to come up with a business plan; instead, Sarah seizes on a job offer from a sly Arab businessman, Abdul (Omar Majali), who takes her away from her current pressures and into the patriarchal sphere of the wealthy Middle East: a sphere with its own problems, especially for young, unmarried women.
It soon becomes clear that Sarah is completely out of touch with the country, its customs, and the family she works for. Every day, as she drives to a large but isolated villa on the outskirts of Amman, she finds the three Farahadi sisters she is supposed to be training sluggish and lethargic. Nour (Andrea Tayeh), Shaima (Nagham Abu Baker), and Fatima (Celina Antoine) don’t leave the house except for trips to the mall with bodyguards. They don’t even have Wi-Fi. Homeschooled, cared for by maids, and under near-constant surveillance, they do nothing but apply makeup, watch TV series, and say their prayers.
By the time Sarah starts asking questions—of the girls themselves and of the bar staff at her fancy hotel—the petty, unexplained brutality that has baffled her evolves into something far more tragic.
Parts of the film feel a bit dull, especially the fact that Sarah keeps wandering upstairs to the forbidden part of the villa, despite the panic she causes and the threatening looks she receives from the Al-Farahadi manservant (Ammar Odeh). However, the relationship between the sisters and their interactions with Sarah feel on point. The only funny moment in the film comes when the makeup-mad Fatima tries to use Sarah like a living doll.
Cages, no matter where they are located, are the central theme of Job's screenplay. It explores the physical and metaphorical cages a person might want to leave and the cages they might want to return to.
As a physically strong but empathetic actress, first-time film actress Holzinger (known for her choreography and performance art) perfectly embodies a foreigner with little experience in the business. The crass Jordanian cast is heartbreaking. The naturalistic camerawork of cinematographer Clemens Hoefnagel (who shot Sudabeh Mortzai’s “Joy” and “Europe”) focuses heavily on Sarah and highlights the visual differences between Austria and Jordan.
