It’s unlikely that you will have seen the city of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, shown with such textured complexity in a film before. In part that’s because the Saudi film industry is so new – the first film to be shot entirely in the country, Wadjda by Haifaa al-Mansour, was made just 12 years ago. Mainly, though, it’s because Mandoob, the striking first feature from Saudi director Ali Kalthami, delves into places in this stratified, rapidly evolving city that even those who live there are unlikely to know about.
The story centres on Fahad (Mohamad Aldokhei, excellent), a mentally fragile and financially insecure fantasist working as a food delivery man after losing his job in a call centre. Fahad sees an opportunity to make some easy money, and, following in the footsteps of cinema’s most inept criminals (Fargo’s hapless Jerry Lundegaard comes to mind), gets himself into trouble with all the wrong people. It doesn’t help that Fahad’s plan involves stealing illegal alcohol (Saudi Arabia is a dry country) from gangsters, then attempting to sell it on to Riyadh’s decadent party crowd. Seedily handsome cinematography captures a city full of secrets and simmering violence.
• In UK and Irish cinemas
