The Sea Ahead

A young woman leaves alone the Beirut airport and makes her way to her parents’ house in the middle of the night. Having been abroad and out of reach for a while, Jana (Manal Issa) seems to be leaving a bad experience behind and seeks an escape. Haunting pressures to fit back into the family dynamics as well as revealing details of her life abroad weigh heavy on her. Feeling cornered, her fears and anxieties resurface, underlined by the bleakness of the city. In Ely Dagher's gracefully melancholic debut, Jana's apathy and depression function as a metaphor for the crisis-stricken Beirut to which she returns. (pf)