131. The Perfect Candidate; movie review

THE PERFECT CANDIDATE
Cert PG
104 mins
BBFC advice: Contains brief mild injury detail

We live in strange times, locked in our homes because of the Coronavirus which is sweeping the world, killing thousands of people.
Therefore, cinema has been put on hold. Indeed, hardly a single picture house is left open across the globe other than Belarus where the president thinks the virus can literally be defeated by cigars and vodka.
Yep, strange days indeed but, meanwhile, in another corner of the world, there might be a new normality which should be welcomed.
Saudi Arabia has long been long known as a country where women could be barely seen or heard but this year forwarded a film about female emancipation as a contender for the Oscars.
Haifaa Al Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate focuses on a Saudi doctor who challenges the male domination in her country by running in municipal elections.
It was released only two years after a longstanding religious ban on cinema in the kingdom was lifted.
Modern Films moved the release of Mansour's film to online for a limited period because of the COVID 19 crisis with an eye to a later cinema release.
It is certainly worth seeing in either format because it shows just how many barriers women have to break down in Saudi Arabia.
It stars the excellent Mila Al Zahrani as Maryam as the doctor who is keen to move up the ladder from her small-town clinic which doesn't even have a navigable road leading up to it.
Despite her qualifications, she has to earn the respect of male colleagues and acceptance from her patients every day.
She is even prevented from travelling to Dubai in search of a better job - so, when a bureaucratic mix-up leads her to stumble on the application for her local city elections, she decides to run.
Of course, she faces restriction and resentment at every turn but she proves that determination can start to change opinion.
The Perfect Candidate is an audacious attempt to turn heads in the direction of change in Saudi Arabia.
It nods towards celebrating artistic traditions while prompting debate about to modernisation.
Cinema may be a contributing factor to helping women blaze new trails.
Some may say that The Perfect Candidate is low key but that is out of necessity. It is being shown with Mansour's direction, Al Zahrani could be the poster girl of change.

Reasons to watch: A critical moment in Saudi modernisation
Reasons to avoid: Some may find the plot a bit slow

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? Public transportation, parks, beaches and amusement parks are segregated in most parts of Saudi Arabia. However, the government announced at the end of 2019 that restaurants are no longer required to have separate entrances segregated by sex.

The final word. Haifaa Al Mansour: "I want to show an optimistic view of the role women can play in Saudi society and the contributions they can make towards forging their own destinies. I want to encourage Saudi women to take a chance and break away from the system that for so long has held us back." 

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