Huda's Salon Review: Palestinian Thriller Doesn't Live Up To Its Potential
The 2021 movie Huda's Salon has a compelling premise: a thriller set in Palestine and sees one woman blackmailing a young mother into becoming a spy. All the pieces are there for captivating cinema — espionage, betrayal, competing interests, danger, and, of course, pathos. It's an idea that should work, and writer, director and producer Hany Abu-Assad does offer some memorable moments and inspired visuals. Yet Huda's Salon stumbles along, not quite living up to the potential. The setting and sociopolitical backdrop are intriguing and exciting. Unfortunately, Abu-Assad fails in the movie's overall execution.
Critically acclaimed Palestinian actress Maisa Abd Elhadi stars in Huda's Salon as Reem, a frustrated mother caught in a desperate situation. Reem has an infant daughter in her care, and is growing distant from her demanding, controlling husband. Her hairdresser, Huda (Manal Awad) drugs her, takes suggestive photos, and then tells Reem she has to work for the Secret Service or face the consequences of those photos getting leaked. Although Reem quickly leaves, her distraught appearance attracts the attention of revolutionaries, and the situation quickly escalates — with potentially devastating repercussions.
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Huda's Salon offers a glimpse into a world Western audiences don't often get to see, and Abu-Assad takes care to build up Reem's world. She takes her daughter everywhere, carried bundled in a basket. Audiences see her riding public transit, waiting in a doctor's office, and serving her in-laws dinner. It's an intimate view of her life that shows how vulnerable she is as a mother with such a new, fragile child in her care. To her
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