Barakah Meets Barakah: A Poignant Commentary on Romance in Saudi Arabia

Barakah Meets Baraka is a 2016 Saudi Arabian film directed and written by Mahmoud Sabbagh. It follows the life of Barakah, a middle-class civil servant who travels across Riyadh issuing tickets for minor offenses. He stumbles across a photoshoot of Bibi, an Instagram star

who uses carefully-cropped and curated photos and videos to promote fashion-forward, eco- friendly, and empowering messages online. The two later meet at a museum and hit it off, but Saudi’s strict laws on non-married couples in combination with Bibi’s mother’s disapproval

come crashing down on them before their relationship can even begin.

This light-hearted comedy shows undertones of political commentary, however. Baraka displays slideshows comparing his generation to his parents’ generation, saying “This is what happiness looks like,”

with a photo of women on phones in burqas to represent his generation,

and a photo of men smiling, playing games and music to represent his parents’ generation. The movie continues to show how the religious police in Saudi Arabia halt Barakah and Bibi’s relationship because they are never allowed to see each other in public without extreme paranoia.

Bibi is shown as more paranoid than Barakah, while Barakah is naive about many of the customs of dating in the modern age — Barakah gifts Bibi a thong. Barakah’s naivety exemplifies the one- sidedness of these laws, and Saudi’s oppressive laws against women. Barakah Meets Baraka runs the risk of affirming negative stereotypes of Saudi culture,

but I found that it was more relatable than anything. Zooming out, the film tells a tale of the longing and lust of a relationship while trying to navigate the barriers that each and every couple face. Barakah’s slideshows show the history and politics of Saudi Arabia, reviewing the 1979 event that changed Saudi culture — “Islamists arrested after siege of Mecca holy mosque.” Before, his parents could meet in public freely and watch cinema together. After the event, the cinemas were destroyed and Saudi Arabians lived in fear of the religious police.

The film does a wonderful job portraying life in modern Saudi Arabia, showing beautiful landscapes and cinematography that complements the narrative well. In combination with it’s relatable nature, the film is captivating. The ending leaves uncertainty that makes the viewer

ponder about the intertwining of romance and politics. Near the end, Bibi reveals that her name is also Barakah, saying that there is an intense connection between the two characters that only makes you want them to be together more. Not only a romcom and a political commentary, this

film can be seen as a general coming-of-age movie. Bibi learns how to navigate her mother’s restrictions and begins to go by her real name, Barakah, showing the self-acceptance she has acquired throughout the story, while Barakah learns about love and companionship, ending in a

joke about Barkah switching his name to Bibi. This excellent, multi-dimensional movie is available on Netflix for anyone to enjoy