Perdida no Deserto

Sarah lives with her strict parents; one day she asks if she can go shopping in town with a friend. Her father tells her that he will pick her up at ten o'clock in the evening at a specified point. Shortly afterwards she removes her niqab and meets her boyfriend. He has arranged for them to go to a party in the desert; he assures her that he will get her back by ten. Things don't go as hoped. They have difficulties in finding the party and once there Sarah finds herself in a situation that quickly turns from uncomfortable to dangerous. Events lead to her struggling to make her own way back to Riyadh; this involves getting past a psychotic camel and a group of yobs amongst other problems.

I had no idea what to expect from this having not seen any Saudi films before... if I'd tried to speculate what might happen I'd have been totally wrong. It manages to switch from disturbing to comic and back again regularly. Sarah is a great main character; she is likeable but far from perfect. Adwa Bader does a really great job in the role. I thought to camera work was good and I liked to locations; the desert has a great atmosphere. From other reviews I can see this is a love it or loathe it type of film; personally I loved it and would recommend others give it a go.

These comments are based on watching the film in Arabic with English subtitles.

I always said "I hope that Saudi film industry will reach this level one day on the directorial and cinematic level", and guess what? Naga movie has met that!

After the anger comments on this movie, by the ridicule, do you think we should take a deep breath and let us evaluate the film with its true identity?

The movie Naga is a psychological drama, psychological thriller, suspense, psychological horror, social horror,

From what I see from the comments, I was expecting a movie, a philosophical drama, a social drama. Some even described it as science fiction.

So, you put the film in a different mold and judged it according to the mold that you set for it, and this is not the problem of the film or its makers. The film put itself in the molds of Jordan Peele's films, such as Get Out and others. You put it with Taxi Driver and demanded from it compelling social messages, leaving out the elements of suspense, excitement, and horror, and paying attention only to your issues. Your claims are with lawyers, not filmmakers

I really don't know when was the last time I saw a scenario for an Arab psychological thriller and psychological horror film that had these elaborate twists in the scenario without being marred by many exaggerations or many coincidences. Even the dazzling use of horror tools was sometimes acceptable and sometimes wonderful.

There is a matter, unfortunately, that I did not see anyone praising, even though it was a basic pillar. This type of film is the product of foreign culture, and all the Arab films I saw in this mold were attracting many foreign ideas and implanting them in their scenarios. Have you seen the originality in the tools of excitement and horror in the film? ? Meshal Al-Jasser used common Saudi social and cultural tools and made them themes of horror and created branches of the dangers that the heroine of the film will face, such as:

Desert: a terrifying geographical area and a period of time

Paternal authority: and the fear of the father, and this was specific to the scenario, and this was very justified by making it a driver, given that it is controlled by a family that has a history with the ruler. His father killed his mother, and the doctor only created for her reason what the father would do when controlling his daughter, but what is very beautiful is that in The end of the movie is for a reason for the door after she made a very smart move. Even if we admit that the burning of the store was a coincidence, this type of scenario requires these coincidences because it is a starting point. You wanted to go back to the most famous horror and suspense films and count how much they talked about this type of accident. If she discovered that it was not the source of fear, but rather the source of safety for her, his crying and fear for her and the absence of heavy drinking on her hijab with the capabilities of children on it, it was a wonderful social message and you will be accused of the film, you will know that it is selling messages.

Her disregard for social controls and her going out surreptitiously with a foreign man: This is what I was upset about. The film's director discusses this issue as a basic dilemma in the scenario and said that it happens in every home! Rather, the man created all the expanses of the universe and these disastrous adventures from his personal actions. I see how a mistake leads to a bigger mistake and a bigger mistake. Did he acquit the girl for her eyes? Do I see you as persecuted? We conveyed to you the journey of extremism and the dangers that result from this scene

The many secret parties: They were wonderful and well-informed, as the barbarian preacher went to the land and talked about them. There were only wonderful sequences, whether with events or past twists, and future events, including a smooth social and sarcastic comedy. There was also the demarcation of the heroine Salhiya, who is the truth and revenge, which will remind him of the severed instrument, which represents the marrow. For the movie, whether when her lover chose her side or she wrote to her friend for causing a very old problem for her, this was shown by the pouring of coffee on her face in a scene in which there was a duality between implementing her hatred and revenge and trying to wake him up.

The camel "Naga": Since he went into the world of experimental horror, he used the camel as one of his terrifying themes. What about her? With a very common incident, which is the accidents of camels on the roads, which created a line of excitement and horror, and even the spinning of traits such as hatred, the constant suffering of a character as long as it remains a desert, and the matter did not end only with spinning the camel with this characteristic, with spinning it with the character of the heroine, not for the other symbolisms and philosophical purpose, but rather to make it appear whether the heroine is confronting herself in her vision. It carries the same characteristic that the she-camel carries, which is truth and revenge... a feast that was eaten by humans, gods and monsters. It seemed that the hero looked like a she-camel, as she fed from the she-camel by eating it brutally as a kind of circle of revenge that did not end, but it was interrupted in the last scene when she beat her brother and took revenge on him. There was an event that came before all of these planes that completed the traits of her personality that she began with, which is that she never forgets her hatred, to complete the story of the poster in the movie that Sarah is the she-camel.

I saw very bad reviews about this movie and I was disappointed, but when I watched it I enjoyed it and was a little scared.

The scenario was good, but the directing was not at the required level, but that's okay, we're still learning, and I think sometimes it's not necessary for the story to represent society or its issues. Let us leave room for some creativity and exploration of other fields. The actors appeared at a good level and the scenario was realistic, even if some describe it as bad. Unfortunately, the music was annoying in many of the shots, but in the end this is considered a good start for Saudi drama.

Naga offers a good storyline that initially draws you in. However, a major drawback is the excessive use of light effects and frequent camera rotations, which unfortunately overshadow the narrative's strengths. This excessive visual flair reached a point where it became a hindrance to my viewing experience, to the extent that I had to stop watching due to feeling dizzy. Despite the intriguing story, these overpowering visual choices made it challenging to continue. This film, while promising in concept, fails to maintain a balance between visual spectacle and storytelling, ultimately detracting from what could have been an engaging experience.

The movie is about a girl who despite a curfew and controlling parents, decides to attend a party with her boyfriend in a camp in the middle of nowhere.

As a person from Iran, I was very curious about this movie as didn't know much about Saudi's. After watching, to me at least, this movie showed that despite our politicians' intentions, we have pretty similar beliefs and fears, and our societies are not much different. The movie has almost everything: thrill, horror, drama and mystery, but makers tried to not just scare or thrill, but also address some other issues, like honor killings and controlling parents, which some of them may not make sense for western viewers, but they are extremely familiar for the people from other countries in the region, problems which we hope and pray that would solve soon.

So while I liked the movie, I reckon that it is kind of unusual movie, I hope to see more from my Saudi buddies in the future.