A battle-scarred doctor and archaeologist search for meaning to their lives amidst the splendour of Egypt’s ancient past in this intoxicating and original relationship drama. The always compelling Andrea Riseborough is outstanding here as Hana, a doctor who has seen too much inhumanity on the frontline of conflict, who arrives in Luxor to recharge herself. A fleeting affair with a boorish US tourist aside, Hanna feels distanced from the world around her. But when she encounters Sultan (Karim Saleh), a talented archaeologist with whom she had previously been involved, Hanna finds hope of some solace. Making the most of her stunning locations, London-born filmmaker Zeina Durra charts a relationship through subtle gestures rather than grandstanding emotions. Saleh exudes the calmness of a man whose life is defined by finding riches in the smallest of details, while Riseborough’s Hanna, on the verge of collapse and admitting ‘I’m broken. I can’t take any more pain’, embraces this world as a way of distancing herself from her reality.
★★★★ “A beautifully sparse character study amid Egypt’s ancient glory” - Leslie Felperin, The Guardian
★★★★ “Director Zeina Durra takes us by surprise, her study of emotional scar tissue never earnest or brutal… Hana’s poise is impeccable. So too the film” - Danny Leigh, Financial Times
★★★★ ”Excavates an enigmatic love affair” -Flipscreened ”Elliptical, shimmery … mature and mysterious” - The Guardian
