Film Review: STREAMS: A Terrifically Made Drama With Two Remarkable Performances [Locarno 2021]

Streams Review

Streams (2021) Film Review from the 74th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a movie directed by Mehdi Hmili, and starring Afef Ben Mahmoud, Iheb Bouyahya, Zaza, Sarah Hannachi and Slim Baccar.

A mother struggling to get by and her son (a young man tormented by accusations brought against her) compromise the two main roles of the haunting new film Streams. The language spoken in the film is Arabic. Director Mehdi Hmili has crafted a fine piece of film-making with a powerhouse performance by Afef Ben Mahmoud as the mother which is among one of the best pieces of acting we may see this year. As the son, Iheb Bouyahya delivers a fierce performance that is brave, compelling and one of the best supporting performances so far this year.

As the film opens, we meet Amel (Afef Ben Mahmoud) who is married to a man who isn’t living up to the role he should be playing in supporting the household. If that weren’t bad enough, there’s a mouse running around their home and at Amel’s job, workers are trying to organize a strike. Moumen (Iheb Bouyahya) plays on a sports team and is seemingly a loyal, loving, if slightly rebellious, son. When Amel has dinner with a man as a friendly gesture, she expects to return back to her home afterwards. Amel tries to pay for her dinner but the man doesn’t let her. Afterwards, the man forces himself upon her sexually in a car. The authorities come and take them both to the station where they proceed to charge Amel with adultery while the man gets off clean. Amel did nothing wrong but since the man saw the money in Amel’s wallet when she tried to pay for dinner, he convinces the cop that he gave her the money. Amel is shamed as a result.

Moumen is automatically enraged at the charges brought against his mother and when a fellow team member talks badly about Amel, Moumen responds with fierce violence and hurts the team member. Afterwards, Moumen’s life becomes in jeopardy for beating the young man up and Moumen ends up running away. The film takes us through the streets of Tunis as Amel is eventually released from jail and begins a quest to find her son who is doing things such as engaging in sex for cash and dealing drugs to survive. The movie is a testament to the love Amel has for her son on one hand and, on the other, it is also about Moumen’s struggle to survive in a world where violence is prevalent and trusting people becomes extremely difficult. The film explores Tunisian society through these characters’ journey.

This film is very complex. The part of Amel’s husband/Moumen’s father could have been a smaller role in a lesser film but the movie deals with the character very intelligently. While Amel’s husband’s neglect is a large part of what is going on, it is also circumstances beyond any of these characters’ control which have led to the tragic situations the characters find themselves in. The husband returns at one point after disappearing for a while because no matter how bad he may be, he still loves his son.

Amel takes on part-time work in the movie to make ends meet She does a job that is comprised of mostly women younger than herself but does it in the name of survival and for the love of her son. She desperately seeks out Moumen for her own peace of mind and because she loves him and she finds a life that is much more brutal and complicated than she ever imagined.

Moumen enters a life of unpredictability as he is assaulted and engages in violence on his own in a different type of survival game than the one his mother finds herself in. The performance by Bouyahya is very well rendered as he displays his character’s fierce independence as well as his vulnerability as he becomes scared at the things he begins to experience which are heart-wrenching in their excesses.

The performance by Afef Ben Mahmoud is, in a word, superb. She keeps her character relatable throughout and we are with her every step of the way. It’s impossible not to feel her pain and passion throughout. The complexity and depth added to this performance is, without a doubt, award worthy.

Mehdi Hmili’s direction takes the viewer places that are challenging to go and he does so fearlessly. There’s not a moment in this film that doesn’t feel totally authentic.

Streams is a challenging film about a mother’s love for her son. It is also a film about that son’s loss of direction as a result of learning that his mom’s reputation has been tarnished. This is a truly unique and heartfelt film which I highly recommend.

Rating: 9/10

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