A Sad and Beautiful World

It begins with an improbable “meet cute”, when Nino crashes his car into a business owned by Yasmina’s mother. By way of apology, he insists they come to his restaurant so that they can resolve their differences. Only it transpires he and Yasmina go way back: they were childhood sweethearts two decades before, and even planned to elope (instead she stood him up and disappeared from his life). In his eyes, she is still the love of his life. Which is inconvenient because falling in love was not in her plans…

Rated 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, this Lebanese love story may start out in rom-com mode but as it develops the film turns out to have depth as well as charm, and pathos to sit beside the humour — it’s the full package, one of those movies that reminds us how much we all have in common, but also how fortunate some of us are, by virtue of where we were born.

You root for them, and for the idea that love can make the world a little less sad and a little more beautiful.

Glenn Kenny, rogerebert.com

Its gentle but profound love story transcends language and borders.

Ema Sasic, Next Best Picture

Funny, even joyous, without discounting the darkness that lives just outside (and sometimes inside) the walls of its characters’ homes.

Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times