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Review of “Three Veils”

Three Veils offers a poignant, dramatic tale of three young Middle-Eastern American women and their colliding lives. Occasionally, the film paints its settings and characters with a rather broad brush, and the script contains uneven moments, but it’s an earnest, entertaining and heartfelt production.

Leila (Mercedes Masöhn) is the pretty, stable “girl next door.” We begin with her staring into a mirror, her voiceover explaining that she’s just gotten engaged (by way of arranged marriage) and all she can think about is her wedding night — specifically her first time with husband-to-be Ali. We watch her prepare for the wedding, host a swinging engagement party and begin to go on awkward dates with Ali, the most aggressively awful kisser of all time.

She relates her adventures in make out purgatory to Nikki (Sheetal Sheth), her free-spirited best friend (and the second of our leading ladies). Slinky, sexy, and perpetually guzzling booze, Nikki is the life of every party, but she’s not all fun and games. A college student with more than the usual alcohol problem, she’s hiding from a scary past and terrified of falling into a dead end future.

Amira (Angela Zahra), our third protagonist, is a shy, resolutely religious girl with five-alarm lesbian tendencies and a rigid, uncompromising mother. She meets Nikki and Leila by asking them to join her study group — an offer they promptly (and rudely) refuse. Soon, though, Amira tends to a sick Nikki in the library bathroom, and the two begin a friendship that quickly tips the scales of emotional dependency.

As we progress, Ali’s behavior towards his fiancée begins to turn from doting to jealous and controlling, especially once Leila starts hanging out with Jamal (Garen Boyajian), who just so happens to be Amira’s brother. A likeable artist who works part-time in Leila’s family’s restaurant, he seems to be channeling Michael from Queer as Folk (Hal Sparks) with his friendly smile and mildly dorky antics.

Meanwhile, Amira and Nikki’s relationship becomes increasingly intimate, as Nikki begins to stay over and seek comfort from her new friend. Amira is immediately conflicted — her extremely strict upbringing clashes with her seemingly inexplicable desire to be around Nikki all the time. It doesn’t take her long to realize that she wants to be much more than “just friends,” something a sweaty night out at the club brings to a head quicker than expected.

The events of the film are played out from each woman’s perspective in turn, with each filling in her personal back-story through voiceover and flashbacks. We’ll learn all about Amira’s too-close-for-comfort “best friend” in high school, whom her mother almost caught her kissing, prompting the strict religious regimen. We find out about Nikki’s dark past and family secrets, in sequences comprised of the movie’s most disturbing, best-performed material. The threads are woven together with grace and subtlety, enough to circumvent the usual confusion and repetition that sometimes comes from the “multiple narrative” device.

The only problem is an occasionally heavy-handed script. The dialogue itself is snappy and often amusing, particularly Nikki’s many barbs and casual comments, but some scenes feel played out. How many times have we seen a controlling male figure try to dominate a beautiful woman, a monstrous mother denounce her lesbian daughter’s “bad influences”, or try to hook her up with some far-off guy in a photograph? The story itself is well paced and interesting, so the clunky scenes really tend to stick out.

Ultimately, Three Veils is compelling because it really does offer fresh perspectives. Amira and Nikki are fascinating women, shaped by religious and cultural influences to a huge extent, and dealing with very complicated feelings in a confusing world. Amira is queer, and a truly devout Muslim — she takes her traditions to heart, and her feelings for Nikki quickly become a source of confusion for her.

Nikki has serious problems — but she’s also the most fun character to watch. She boozes and does drugs, yet she always manages to be there for her friends and her ailing father, despite a tragic, truly disturbing history. She finds something special in Amira, and she’s not held back by cultural expectations — but that doesn’t necessarily mean she knows what she wants.

The performances are fantastic — of course, Sheetal Sheth is amazing and beautiful (she was a lead in both The World Unseen and I Can’t Think Straight), and Angela Zahra is phenomenal as the conflicted, fundamentally good Amira. It’s impossible not to feel for her, both as the introverted girl who only wants to be accepted and later, as a woman who feels torn between her feelings and her faith.

Leila is a sympathetic presence as well, though it’s her family dynamic that makes her story the most interesting. The daughter of an overbearing, judgmental mother and a loving, understanding father, she wades through territory that is at once treacherous and fascinating. When trouble arises with Ali, it’s dad who recognizes his daughter’s unhappiness first and encourages her to follow her heart — a nice touch and a subversion of the “overbearing male” stereotype that tends to rear its head in lesbian cinema.

It’s clear that a whole lot of love and energy went into this production. Writer/director Rolla Selbak has crafted a story that features young Middle Eastern women dealing with several aspects of culture, religion and the successful navigation of these tricky waters in the world we live in — and the film thrives on its subtle, nuanced core performances. Despite a few mild missteps, Three Veils comes with a hearty recommendation.

Three Veils screens on Monday, April 25 at Fullerton College. For info on additional screenings, check out the Three Veils Facebook page and the official website.

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