Osama

(Netflix)

I wasn't sure what to expect, and though I have little to compare it to, it seemed sadly very realistic. This was one of the first movies made post-Taliban Afghanistan apparently inspired by a newspaper article and directed by Siddiq Barmak. It's a story very much focused on the struggles of women in the culture especially when run by the Taliban. Widows and other single women don't have a way to make a living. At the beginning of the movie the camera is in the perspective of a journalist that eventually is caught and sentenced to death for filming a women's protest. The women, fully covered, are protesting for rights to have jobs. The Taliban attack them, capture them, and spray them with hoses. Out of desperation a small family of women cut their girl's hair and dress her as a boy so that she can get a job. As a boy she is called Osama. Osama holds a job for no more than a couple days before being forced into a Taliban camp along with the other boys nearby. Eventually she is found out and forgiven for her crime, but she is forced to wed an much older man and live in captivity with his other wives and children.
Overall, this movie just really highlighted the rights of women and men in Afghanistan, and what was/is expected in that culture. Women were expected to be fully covered head-to-toe when around Taliban; it seemed in more relaxed and reasonable situations they could uncover their face and feet. Life just seemed like a struggle for everyone in this movie except the Taliban and friends of the Taliban.

This definitely is not a happy ending kind of movie, but it really gives perspective on how difficult life was and still is over there. I feel endlessly blessed after seeing this movie.