Huda’s Salon

A feminist thriller from noted Palestinian-Dutch director Hany Abu-Assad (‘Rana’s Wedding’, the Oscar-nominated ‘Paradise Now’), ‘Huda’s Salon’ is a gripping tale of betrayal, espionage, and the place of women in patriarchal Palestinian society (yes, this film is ambitious!). Manal Awad (fantastic) plays Huda, the Palestinian proprietor of a hair salon in Bethlehem. Without offering any spoilers, let’s just say that cutting hair is not her only skill. Maisa Abd Elhadi (equally fantastic) is Reem, whose visit to her friend Huda’s salon will upend her life completely. To say more would be an injustice to this smart, thoroughly engaging political thriller.

‘It goes without saying that, like most of Abu-Assad’s films, especially “Paradise Now” (2005) and “Omar” (2014), “Huda’s Salon” is rubbed raw by the politics of the occupied territories; but somehow it doesn’t feel like an issue movie. When Huda is onscreen, played with sublime command by Awad, the story becomes unremittingly about her… “Huda’s Salon” has the doubleness of film noir: it offers a satisfying dramatic snap while bequeathing a more lasting anxiety. As Huda says, “It’s easier to occupy a society that’s already repressing itself.” There are no solutions…’—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker