The Difficult Bride follows Zaineen, a young woman preparing for her marriage. Zaineen is expected to transform herself into an almost perfect bride — beautiful and desirable — and is subjected to a relentless cycle of beauty rituals, home remedies, family advice, and expectations of how a bride should look and behave. Her body is constantly watched, assessed, and corrected so much so that her weight, skin, appearance, and femininity become matters of collective concern. As the pressure to become the ideal bride intensifies, her body and subconscious begin to resist what is being imposed upon her.
The Difficult Bride stands out for its striking blend of feminist social commentary, psychological horror, and surreal imagery. Rubaiyat Hossain uses Zaineen’s body as a canvas to express the conflicts she experiences. Her insomnia, anxiety, visions, and unexplained physical sensations become expressions of a deeper conflict. Rubaiyat has crafted a formally ambitious film, exploring female desire, fear, identity, and the weight of societal expectations with remarkable conviction.
Supported by
Rubaiyat Hossain
Zaineen Chowdhury Karim, Saberi Alam Motaher, Azmeri Haque, Reekita Nondine Shimu, Sunerah Binte Kamal
France/Bangladesh/
Germany/Norway/
Portugal
2026
In Bengali and English with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Md Shariful Islam
Producer
François d’Artemarre, Pedro Borges, Rubaiyat Hossain, Aadnan Imtiaz Ahmed, Ingrid Lill Høtgun, Anna Katchko
Screenwriter
Rubaiyat Hossain
Cinematography
Leonor Teles
Editor
Raphaëlle Martin-Hölger
Production Design
Jonaki Bhattacharya
Original Music
Jim Williams
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
The History of Concrete
After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.
La Bola Negra
A big, old-school historical melodrama gets a thrillingly modern, queer makeover from Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who artfully juggle three gay protagonists across stories set in 1932, 1937, and 2017. Winner: Best Director, Cannes. Screening on 35mm.
A. Rimbaud
Patrick Wang (The Bread Factory) presents the life of French poet Arthur Rimbaud in this staggeringly adventurous and deeply considered movie, a three-hour, one-man show quite unlike anything we have seen before. "Poetic, audacious and singular."
The 39 Steps
In our new film studies series, FRAMEWORK, film scholar Michael van den Bos explores the work of Alfred Hitchcock, across four monochrome masterworks. This week: The 39 Steps (1935), a witty and fast-moving spy thriller from Hitchcock's English period.