Perfect Candidate is indeed a perfect candidate for a new Saudi Arabian cinema, state of reform, and national transition. Haifaa Al Mansour’s new feature premiered last year in Venice exceptionally brings the viewers to recognize struggles and changes underway. Financed by Nordeuchte Rundfunk in collaboration with Saudi Film and Ministry of culture, it stars Mila Alzahrani (Maryam), Khalid Abdulraheem (Abdulaziz) and Dae Al Halili (Selma) in leading roles. The story takes place in modern Saudi Arabia. It depicts the unending struggle of Maryam, who works hard to break long-established norms as a physician, city council candidate, social influencer, and daring sibling/daughter. The film has signatures of Al Mansour’s earlier features, Women Without Shadow (2005), Wadjada (2012), to highlight female empowerment potentials but depicts the rich Saudi Arabian culture and changing family dynamics more holistically.
The opening scene sets the tone perfectly. Maryam drives with a niqab with a camera enclosing her in the claustrophobic space. She gets out and goes to the clinic. What is she planning to do? Is she a patient or more empowered character? Then it is revealed that Maryam is a Doctor. A dissonance is already created in the audience’s minds. In consecutive shots, the strong female character dual life gets nailed. Then, it comes the next punch. In a climactic moment, she gets rejected by Abu Musa, who does not want to be treated by a female doctor. Another blow is when her supervisor, Dr. Ghazi, does not support her after the incident. Shrewdly, Al Mansour depicts the reality of Saudi women in less than a few minutes of the film’s beginning. The plot unfolds smoothly afterward, with the viewers getting to know Maryam’s family, the relationship with her Dad and sisters, and the romanceless life. The next twist/punch comes when she is forced to renew her working permit and accidentally becomes a candidate in a municipal election. The rest of the story narrates Maryam’s struggles as a novice but a courageous candidate who attempts to break many walls, including traditionalism and patriarchy. In a parallel subplot, Maryam’s challenges are paralleled by her father. Abdulaziz is a talented singer, and even though he has lost his best friend and wife, who was a remarkable singer, he still fights and keeps the good old memories with playing Oud. Interestingly, by narrating this parallel story similar to Maryam’s arduous journey, Al Mansour targets Saudi conservatism more brazenly. She is relentless and reckless in this cinematic criticism as finally, the Abdulaziz music triumph despite the threats of extremists and despises of music. The plot closure brings the family together; Maryam is not only emboldened but on moral high ground and the traditional Saudi fabric of society challenged.
Perfect Candidate has a powerful message, and it is not shy to depict and advocate for it. From a technical standpoint, the form serves this thematic radicalism. The camera is at the cornerstone of the drive and aesthetic. The viewers, especially ones from traditional backgrounds, get bolted by its freedom to navigate private spaces. The camera acclimatizes the viewers by first showing the female protagonist driving, then with a niqab, then with an uncovered face, and finally her and other sisters without a hijab. It also freely shows the interior space of the wedding hall and female singing, which carries many taboos. In another decisive scene, the camera movement and span document Maryam’s desire and her urge for Omar and her sisters’ intrigue for her romantic arousal. These are all unique signs and ones that show the openness and new attitude of the Saudi Filmmakers and cinema. This aspect is also complemented by the subplots of Maryam’s fierceness running for the election and her father playing music in the countryside despite the threats. Maryam gets innovative and makes a strong statement despite being ridiculed and demoralized even by his father and younger sister’s doubts and rejections. In this respect, the novel feature of this story is that it chronicles her struggles and small victories at the same time. By watching these scenes, viewers, especially females from the traditional societies, feel empowered, but the realism can be scathingly harsh.
As in her earlier films, Al Mansour’s Perfect Candidate carries a powerful message of hope and agency for women in Saudi Arabia. It also reinforces the notion that Saudi society is getting ready for a paradigm shift towards a more moderate world view. In this context, women can drive and work in high positions; they can run for political office, sing in wedding parties and remove niqab in public. Al Manousr’s new feature ushers this version of Saudi Arabia which is more tolerant despite the weight of millennia of traditions and Mohammad Bin Salman’s portraits in the background. Al Mansour is a pioneer; Saudi Cinema and her camera have stepped into showing the difficult but not impossible task of these glacial and groundbreaking changes.
Score: A-
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