This one took some getting into. Or getting used to. The first half hour shows us a mean, controlling old woman sucking out all the joy out of her family, spying on everybody, dictating how they should behave, and banning any picture, which is why the director and her parents do not have any pictures. Except for a small act of rebellion.
Then we are shown her dad working on a very detailed diorama of their old neighbourhood in Casablanca and certain events and stories are reenacted using miniature puppets of the family members, neighbours, etc. But it is only towards one hour in that we are shown and told the gruesome events of that summer day in 1981, when the people took to the streets to protest price rises in flour and the brutal army reprisals that took place, an open wound for the entire population, multiple generations affected by the unthinkable acts and the cover-up. And grandma's stubborn silence and refusal to answer any question about it can be a parallel to the cowardly regime that suppressed its people with brutality and then denied all responsibility.
Although beautifully crafted, the heavy use of miniature houses, rooms, alleys, and people became tiresome, except for the reenactment of the events of that day. Let's say too much space is occupied by grandma's shenanigans. That's why I strongly believe enforced filial piety is very toxic. Respect should be earned, even by our elders. And no, I don't care about her sob story, you don't push trauma onto others like that.
