SPEC D: Raja Amari. France/Tunisia. 92 min. Sep 14, 7:30 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1 Sep 15, 6 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1 Sep 18, 3:45 pm, Isabel Bader. Rating: NNN
Samia (Sarra Hannachi) enters France illegally after informing on her jihadist brother in Tunisia. In her new country, she seeks out Imed (Salim Kechiouche) and finds a job working for grieving widow Leila (Hiam Abbass).
Writer/director Amari adeptly captures the anxiety of the undocumented, and star Hannachi expertly conveys Samia’s shifts from panicked to poised. However, the characters make choices that border on the nonsensical. That may be Amari’s intentional statement about people in distress, but it can also be confusing.