Souad review – shrewd and poignant study of social media identities

The lives of three young Egyptians become tragically entangled in Ayten Amin's sharp, subtle coming-of-age drama

As well as being subtle, tender and sad, this feature from Egyptian director Ayten Amin is one of those rare films which really engages with online existence and social media - yet without needing to flash up tweets and texts as onscreen graphics in the way most movies do. Souad meditates on the mysterious discrepancy between the image we project on social media and the reality behind it, and also how this discrepancy itself can be corrosive. And it also reflects on the eerie afterlife of a dead person's Facebook page - like Jean Cocteau's remark about a writer's work carrying on like a ticking wristwatch on a dead soldier.

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