Ebada Hassan, Safiyya Ingar, Yusra Warsama
Giddy and excited, 15-year-olds Doe (Ebada Hassan) and Muna (Safiyya Ingar) are going on the trip of a lifetime. Quiet, watchful Doe hasn’t travelled abroad since she arrived in the UK as a child; her more confident friend Muna is the dominant force. They’re not going on holiday, though – they’re travelling to Istanbul, then across the border to start a new life in Syria, a journey that will test their resolve, their faith and their friendship. As the girls near their destination, they must confront the reality of their future.
The Artistic Director of London’s Young Vic, Nadia Fall’s film debut is inspired by real-life cases of young people who left the UK and other parts of the globe to join the Islamic State, including the obvious parallel to Shamima Begum, the London teen who travelled to Syria to marry an IS fighter. It’s a provocative, hot-button area, but Fall’s delicately balanced film is exceptionally well-drawn, with a precise and compassionate script from screenwriter and playwright Suhayla El-Bushra that consistently upends expectations. A real attempt to understand the path to radicalisation and the lives behind the headlines, Brides examines the intimacy and loyalty of female friendship, the teenage attraction to risk and the illusion of invulnerability afforded to the young.
