I think Rehana is one of the best written strong female leads that I have seen in movies in recent years. The most intriguing part is she isn't perfect; she's flawed & arrogant at times and that made her so much grounded & believable at the core.
Rehana's determination, anger & at the same time helplessness in her everyday struggle was set against our broken values & views towards women and director Abdullah Mohammad Saad depicted that flawlessly through a confined premise of a workplace and bluish, nightmarish color tone till the very symbolic, last sequence of the movie. This settings quite skillfully captures Rehana's suffocating surrounding and fights for the justice; yet at the same time slowly unfolds another excellent sub-plot of her little daughter who is also going through a terrible time at the school.
On its premier, the film received a standing ovation at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival; and I must say, at least for the performance of Azmeri Haque Badhon on the lead, supported by Afia Jahin Jaima, that amazing child actress played the role of Rehana's daughter...both truly deserved that. With Rehana, now I can finally see a new dawn for Bangladeshi cinema...which was more or less in a limbo for quite a long time. As a Bangladeshi viewer, this just made me proud that a hard hitting film like this have made in Bangladesh!
Rehana's determination, anger & at the same time helplessness in her everyday struggle was set against our broken values & views towards women and director Abdullah Mohammad Saad depicted that flawlessly through a confined premise of a workplace and bluish, nightmarish color tone till the very symbolic, last sequence of the movie. This settings quite skillfully captures Rehana's suffocating surrounding and fights for the justice; yet at the same time slowly unfolds another excellent sub-plot of her little daughter who is also going through a terrible time at the school.
On its premier, the film received a standing ovation at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival; and I must say, at least for the performance of Azmeri Haque Badhon on the lead, supported by Afia Jahin Jaima, that amazing child actress played the role of Rehana's daughter...both truly deserved that. With Rehana, now I can finally see a new dawn for Bangladeshi cinema...which was more or less in a limbo for quite a long time. As a Bangladeshi viewer, this just made me proud that a hard hitting film like this have made in Bangladesh!