O Digno

Not long ago he charmed us with City of Life, an almost true to life depiction of life in Dubai. This time imminent Emirati director Ali F Mostafa grabs our attention with a premonition of what could happen in the not so distant future.

Set in a derelict dystopia where clean water has become a precious commodity (if it isn't already, time to wake up people!) The Worthy opens with a warning and in it a protruding message about the fate of humanity. The first fifteen minutes is also a warning that violence will be brutal, bloody, and at times extremely unforgiving. We are then introduced to about ten survivors living in an abandoned aircraft factory. They have a huge water tank but low on ammunition, thus making them sitting ducks for drifters. With the palette already dark and dusty, the arrival of two mysterious strangers escalates the film into a bottomless pit of spectacular chaos.

Shot mostly in a single location, what follows is a deadly game of cat-and-mouse where one by one, characters are picked-off in gruesome death traps. While the fates of these characters are somewhat predictable, why they are being killed forms the central message in the film. As such, it won't take long for viewers to realise that the theme on water scarcity is just the outer layer of this diabolical thriller that finds its footing in slasher territory. That the makers seem to have had free reign on death scenes is evident in violence that is almost on par with carnage in the Saw films. Even so, repetitiveness is kept to a minimum in favour of keeping the action grounded and beautifully choreographed.

With an ensemble cast and a credible script from horror writer Vikram Veet, The Worthy may feel familiar to the post-apocalyptic canon but it's still a commendable effort and a leap forward in Arab cinema. Like City of Life before (including actors from that film), The Worthy is built on a platform of philosophical ironies that many may not see at first. But it's there and waiting to be discovered, just like the emerging Arab film market. And judging from the applause at the end of this screening, it also shows that Emirati cinema can be distinctly Arabic and strangely alluring at the same time.

As the name suggests by itself, it is "Worthy" to be watched during a weekend. Rather than a deep plot with so much twists and complexities, 'The Worthy ' portrays each and every person's personal conceptions in a shattered world, in a very simple language used by the director. The film concentrates on the lives of around a 10 refugees living in a partially underdeveloped building within a large protected area surrounding it. It used to be an Airplane manufacturing factory. In the film ,it is said to be located in Saudi Arabia. They are provided with a tank of clean supply of water with which they are adjusting after most of the water resources in the nation has been contaminated by the governing bodies to make the people sick and then to die. Those people are living there for about 318 days after a war took place within the country between soldiers as well as self-proclaimed soldiers after the political parties greedful governance , that had shaken the whole nation.They are afraid to get outside the compound because anytime anything can happen.

Actually the director intermixes the rule of a " chess game" and the Islamic belief " ya'a aleph" in the story-telling process.

Actually those refugees are considered as 'Pawns' in the chess game. Visibly pawns are the most weakest among all the other members in the chess board of life. But if they proceeds well and survives till the end , they can be the most powerful. That's the rule implied here.

The 'pawn' in the story is actually the character 'Eissa'. He is a very good, gentle, kind and a lovable boy. He cares for everyone. He doesn't hurt others unless they are a threat to his beloved. But he has the ability to survive till the end. He is somewhat childish and immature. Actually his life is the sacrifice from his own sister, 'Maryam'. . 'Maryam' is a respectable personality, who's just opposite to the character of 'Eissa'. She too cares for her loved ones but she's too brave and intelligent. She was excellent at observing the villian but unfortunately failed at underestimating the brain behind him. That caused all the massacre.

But the Most Appreciable character in this film is "RAYA". She is an acid attack survivor. Her husband, 'Idrees' has been killed by the villian , in a bomb blast due to which their water tank has been destructed.They lose their water supply. So, Raya along with Eissa and Qais went in search for water.After a bit of searching they found some water and it has been taken in a bottle brought by them and the bottle was in the hands of Raya. But unfortunately they gets trapped in a huge manhole which is put on fire by the antagonist .Somehow Eissa and Qais gets out of it but even after holding Eissa's hands towards Raya , she couldn't get hold of it . He was unable to stretch it even more as the fire flames are already too high to burn his hands, so out of heat flame he took off his hands. Helpless Raya , screams loudly . As her body has already started to burn off she's started to realize that she cannot escape the fate. This is when I had cried for the first time while watching this movie. " She throws the water bottle towards them and surrenders herself to death crying aloud."

Just imagine the level of consideration in her heart. Who would think about those living or who have escaped ,when we are under the fear and pain of death that has been pulling us? They are not her sons or brothers. "That is Raya".

Shuaib - The man who is just the father version of his own son - Eissa. Shuaib is a lovable man, a loving father , a caring friend , an unbiased leader , a considerate for humanity. He along with his son welcomes all these tragedy to all those people.

Jamal is an intelligent man. He can predict future and gives good advises but he becomes too selfish after the death of Shuaib, that ultimately kicks him out of the troop.Later on our villian who is waiting to seperate each man , one by one , captures Jamal and uses him as a bait..

The rest is upto you,or else it won't be that much interesting if the whole story's mentioned.

Nothing new here, same as always people dies and some survive. But there is a great nerve throughout the movie, and some deepth in the caracter, that seldom accour in this genre.

I highly recommend this movie; it's quick paced, well acted & directed; production values are really good, despite the low budget; gore and sfx are really top notch! It's a very lean, fast paced dystopian action movie, full of plot twists and expert direction & photography.

I'm a big fan of post apocalyptic themed movies/shows but find many are really bad. This being one. The story is very basic to the genre, but repeatedly situations completely unrealistic occur to keep the story moving.