With Barsaoui’s extremely focused direction and script, each passionate glance or dejected plea is elevated by the actor’s captivating performances.

Tunisian filmmaker Mehdi Barsaoui presents a startling mature debut with A Son, by building a compelling narrative of shifting dynamics between a husband and wife at odds who are facing their biggest nightmare.

Only months after the Tunisian Revolution of 2011, the affluent Youssef family are on a holiday trip to the countryside, when they find themselves caught in an ambush by Islamist insurgents. Their only son Aziz is critically injured and rushed to the nearest hospital and in the agonizing hours that follow, concerned parents Fares (Sami Bouajila) and Meriem (Najla Ben Abdallah) are told that he needs a liver transplant that risks his life should a donor not be found in time. But this is only the beginning of the unexpected twists in a story so deftly crafted that it offers both a probing look at Tunisian society’s anchored social and legal realities, and an unshakable need to ask yourself what you would do in the same situation.

However, a shocking family secret is discovered that not only makes them question everything they know, but it triggers revelations which threaten their marriage with dire consequences. Challenging your emotions at every turn, A Son is a riveting ride in which the euphoria of a family trip quickly turns into a tragedy, by using the onset of the Arab Spring movement as a thematic backdrop to convey something intimate and difficult about family relations.

Sami Bouajila received the César Award for Best Actor.

Directed by Mehdi Barsaoui, France/Lebanon/Qatar/Tunisia, 2019, DCP, 96 mins. In Arabic and French with English subtitles.

Screened in Arabic and French with English subtitles.

Mehdi Barsaoui |  France/Lebanon/Qatar/Tunisia |  2019  |  DCP | 96 minutes