Mahdia Ahmed

I believe that this Movie is not an appropriate representation of Muslims and is sending the wrong message to people about Islam. I will acknowledge the fact that some people may have abusive parents that are overly strict about religion as portrayed in the movie and I think that it was a good idea that the writer included this however this is not the lives of all Muslims yet it seems that any movie about Muslims portrays this same image. I also feel that I lacked to understand the significance or message of the movie. The movie seemed to end at a strange scene with the girl Hala taking off her headscarf and then going out. The message that I got from this was that the only solution to how she was feeling was to forget or give up her religion as symbolized by her taking off the head scarf. I was really excited to hear that there would be a movie about Muslim girls but instead I was disappointed to see that the story lacked any hope or positivity. For example, for Muslims Eid is very important and a time for families to connect over amazing home cooked meals, gifts, and prayers. The writer could have added this in maybe with another family to show that it is not the religion that is causing these parents to be abusive but rather the people themselves. All religions have people that are considered bad and good so I do not understand why whenever there is a movie about Muslims only the bad side is shown. I think it is really important for non Muslims to watch these kind of movies so that they can understand the religion however a movie like Hala does not send the right message and does not inform the non Muslims with the proper information. For Muslims who tried to watch this movie out of joy that their religious identity is finally being represented in our society they will surely be disappointed and will in fact feel less confident to speak out about their religion. I definitely was when I realized that this movie lacked to show the reality of majority of Muslims lives. I hope that someday we are able to have a movie that appropriately shows the meaning of a true Muslim. My rating for this movie is a zero Star not a one star.