YOU RESEMBLE ME movie poster | ©2022 Willa Productions

YOU RESEMBLE ME movie poster | ©2022 Willa Productions

Rating: Not rated
Stars: Lorenza Grimaudo, Illona Grimaudo, Mouna Soualem, Sabrina Ouazani, Dina Amer, Sana Sri, Alexandre Gonin, Djino Grimaudo, Nassima Benchicou
Writers: Dina Amer & Omar Mullick
Director: Dina Amer
Distributor: Willa Productions/Vice Studios
Release Date: November 11, 2022

“What kind of person does these things?” someone asks about a terrorist. YOU RESEMBLE ME is here to provide one answer. It is a singular answer, not even attempting to cover all possible responses, but a convincing one.

The real Hasna Ait Boulahcen was twenty-six years old when she died in an explosion in Paris, France in November, 2015. At the time, Ait Boulahcen was labeled in the press “France’s first female suicide bomber” before it was discovered that she was not responsible (at least directly) for the blast that also killed two men in the apartment with her.

The film YOU RESEMBLE ME explores how and why Hasna wound up where she did. As a little girl, Hasna (Lorenza Grimaudo) lives with slightly younger sister Mariam (Illona Grimaudo), slightly older brother Youssef (Djino Grimaudo), a toddler baby brother, and Moroccan immigrant mother Amina (Sana Sri) in a small Paris apartment.

Hasna loves cowbow movies, which has good guys shooting bad guys. She detests the lyrics of “La Marseilles,” feeling that they indicate fear of people just like her. She cheers on a Muslim boy who beats up a non-Muslim boy who has insulted Islam in a neighborhood basketball game.

Amina, who is mentally unstable, has an unpleasant habit of taking anything her children might possess, including clothing they are wearing at the time.

When Hasna stands up for Mariam, Amina throws her older daughter out, and Mariam goes with her sister. The two children, who adore each other, survive out on the street for a little while. Then they are scooped up by Social Services and sent to live in foster care.

While we are shown no physical abuse, Hasna’s foster family can fairly be described as insensitive (one doesn’t have to be an expert on the Muslim religion to know that pork is forbidden). As a result, Hasna continues to run away.

As an adult, Hasna (played by alternately by Mouna Soualem, Sabrina Ouazani, and filmmaker Dina Amer) has little education, connections, or means. She winds up living with her friend Sonia (Nassima Benchicou), but is aimless – until she sees her cousin Hamid (Alexandre Gonin) on television. Hasna reaches out. Hamid is glad to hear from her. And he seems to offer purpose, belonging, even love.

Director Dina Amer and her co-writer Omar Mullick create a persuasive narrative of how easily someone alienated from society can be drawn into a cause. The cast is strong, with exceptional performances from the Grimaudo sisters as young Hasna and young Mariam.

Amer’s filmmaking technique incorporates multiple styles, going from documentary-type naturalism, with the camera picking up sometimes chaotic action, to surrealism in Hasna’s fantasies and dreams.

However, the decision to cast multiple actors as the adult Hasna adds nothing to our understanding of her. We hardly need this to illustrate that she employs different personas, depending on who she’s with and her surroundings. Instead, it’s confusing, as we keep waiting to see Mariam again and wonder if one of the Hasnas is instead her sister.

This also keeps us at a remove. We’re conscious of the filmmakers experimenting for what seems to be experimentation’s sake; we’re watching technique rather than what the technique is meant to show us.

Amer and company switch to literal documentary at the end, featuring brief interviews with several Ait Boulahcen family members.

YOU RESEMBLE ME tells a fascinating story. It mostly works, despite the aforementioned artistic choices. The film is in French and Arabic, with subtitles.

Related: Movie Review:  THEY CRAWL BENEATH
Related: Movie Review: THE FRIENDSHIP GAME
Related: Movie Review: TERRIFIER 2
Related: Movie Review: NEXT EXIT
Related: Movie Review: NOCEBO
Related: Movie Review: SOFT & QUIET
Related: Movie Review: GIRL AT THE WINDOW
Related: Movie Review:  DEMONS AT DAWN
Related: Movie Review:  CALL JANE
Related: Movie Review:  V/H/S/99
Related: Movie Review:  SINPHONY: A CLUBHOUSE HORROR ANTHOLOGY
Related: Movie Review:  OLD MAN
Related: Movie Review:  TICKET TO PARADISE
Related: Movie Review: THE VISITOR
Related: Movie Review: TWO WITCHES
Related: Movie Review: THE INHABITANT
Related: Movie Review:  AMSTERDAM
Related: Movie Review:  DEADSTREAM
Related: Movie Review:  SMILE
Related: Movie Review:  THE GOOD HOUSE
Related: Movie Review:  BROS
Related: Movie Review: DON’T WORRY DARLING
Related: Movie Review: CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY
Related: Movie Review: PEARL
Related: Movie Review: X
Related: Movie Review: SEE HOW THEY RUN
Related: Movie Review: HOW DARK THEY PREY
Related: Movie Review: TRUE THINGS
Related: Movie Review: SPEAK NO EVIL
Related: Movie Review: BARBARIAN
Related: Movie Review: BURIAL
Related: Movie Review: THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING
Related: Movie Review: FALL
Related: Movie Review: MANEATER
Related: Movie Review: ORPHAN: FIRST KILL
Related: Movie Review: GLORIOUS
Related: Movie Review: OF THE DEVIL
Related: Movie Review: CAMPING TRIP
Related: Movie Review: THE DEAD GIRL IN APARTMENT 03
Related: Movie Review: BULLET TRAIN
Related: Movie Review: BODIES BODIES BODIES
Related: Movie Review: RESURRECTION
Related: Movie Review: NOPE
Related: Movie Review: H.P. LOVECRAFT’S WITCH HOUSE
Related: Movie Review: THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: YOU RESEMBLE ME

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

CAPTCHA Image
*
Increase your website traffic with Attracta.com

Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory

bottom round