Barakah Rencontre Barakah

Barakah yoqabil Barakah (Blessing meets Blessing) is an utterly delightful, 70-80% accurate, indie romp through the pitfalls of modern day Saudi youths ' romantic lives. I highly recommend it as a lighthearted, uplifting comedy with a touch of poignency.As an experienced American English teacher, who has taught females in KSA, in 4 different cities, as well as tutored young Saudi males at An American University for a couple of years, combined with being old enough myself to remember seeing the historical television clips of a different time in Arabic cultural history, I feel confident that I am making an accurate assessment relative to KSA juxtaposed with other cultures, in the Middle East & all over the world. Although a touch cartoonish at times, a really entertaining enjoyable RomCom with a true butterflies eye view. Ten stars.

I'm a simple person. If you tell me there is a Saudi rom-com available on Netflix, I will watch it. It's with this mindset I put the movie on; not with any expectation but with curiosity for this cinematic oddity.

Well, damn. After Wadjda, this is two for two for Saudi cinema, fighting to exist in a country that until last week hadn't had a single legal cinema for over 30 years. Barakah follows the lives of two young Saudis both named Barakah, a working-class man who works for the religious police and the daughter of a rich couple who made a lucrative career out of social media celebrity.

Behind its simple guy-meets-girl premise, Barakah Meets Barakah portrays the contradictions and frustrations of Saudi youth. Far from the usual religious-secular dichotomy the country is usually portrayed with, the movie shows the nuances of life in Saudi.

The two leads are a perfect match, 'Bibi' with the freedom her class allows her and a mouth she cannot shut and Barakah, much more shy and reserved with a male privilege he doesn't know what to do with.

This movie made my heart ache, my blood boils while making me laugh out loud.

More than an oddity, a must-watch.

My first ever Arabic language film in spite of having spent 17 years in the Middle East! Yes, a shame indeed. I am happy that my eye opener towards Arabic Cinema is a neatly made film and a pleasant surprise!

Clever political taunts come tactfully packaged within the framework of a heartwarming romantic comedy. It is surprising how Saudi passed a film that is clearly critical of their regressive society. It smartly shows mirror to Saudi's medieval practices of religion-influenced administration.

Highly recommended for World Cinema lovers!

Im reading the comments below and I think it's funny why people bring political and religion over it. Cmon folks I'll bet there are bigger problems out there.

First, I do not have anything against the director or the crew but I am only stating a fact and any Arabic speaker who is familiar with the Saudi culture and not ideologically influenced will know what I am about to say is true. This films is written from a Western perspective. It is not even popular in Saudi, in fact, it is heavily criticized. I understand why the director favored the Western viewer over the Saudi viewer. it is because he wants awards and popularity in the West. Whether you like it or not, this film is not a Saudi film. There are lot of Saudi films that are critically acclaimed in Saudi . YouTube is one place to check them where you can see the positive reviews and likes. If this film was uploaded on YouTube and became available among the rest of Saudis, there will be more dislikes.