Netflix on Thursday (April 27) dropped Saudi Arabian psychological thriller “The Matchmaker,” which centers on a married IT worker who becomes infatuated with a beautiful intern at his office and v…
,” which centers on a married IT worker who becomes infatuated with a beautiful intern at his office and ventures into ground that breaks several types of local boundaries.
In the film, which is directed by Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan – whose directorial debut “Last Visit” depicted Saudi’s patriarchal culture – the protagonist winds up following the intern to an eerie desert resort where a matchmaker promises men she will pair them with their perfect bride. The basic premise behind “Matchmaker,” which is produced by disruptive Saudi shingle Telfaz 11, was to make a genre movie that played on the practice of “misyar,” a no-strings attached marriage often done secretly in Saudi society. Under the rules of “misyar” the wife waives conventional marriage rights such as cohabitation and financial support. The practice has been legal in the conservative Muslim kingdom for decades.
The film, which has supernatural elements and marks one the first psychological thrillers from Saudi, was shot in AlUla the sprawling area of Saudi desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city.spoke to producer Mohammed Alhamoud, who is head of development at Telfaz 11, about why “The Matchmaker” represents a novelty forFirst of all we wanted to experiment with genre. Saudi filmmaking is still mainly drama and comedy and we decided that Telfaz should do a psychological thriller.
For example the intern, is key to the story. Because we had this bored office guy, we then found this stunning new intern. This is actually a new dynamic in Saudi, it’s not something we came up with for the sake of the story. This is like everyday Saudi now: you find men and women mixing in the workplace. Things are changing. It’s not like in 2013 when “Wadjda” [the film about a 10-year-old Saudi girl who wants to ride a bicycle even though it is forbidden in her country] was made.
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