The Vile

It doesn’t need the black magic subplot to make the audience care about the characters -- especially Amani and Noor. It’s an extraordinarily well-crafted and mournful tale of a family in collapse, and of a woman who knows how limited her options are.

With stunningly dark-hued 16mm cinematography, director-cowriter Majid Al Ansari inventively evokes an unnerving atmosphere, deploying cinematic flourishes involving sound and light without the usual cheap tricks.

The Vile feels fresh and authentic within the context of Emirati cinema. Al Ansari shows flourishes of his love for the genre, and his understanding of how and why it works.

Thanks to the cast, solid filmmaking and a definite sense of purpose, The Vile gets under the skin in ways at once expected and unfamiliar.