Close on the heels of the release of the third season of Indian Matchmaking in which patriarchy and toxic masculinity get put on a pedestal, here comes Netflix’s latest, this time from Saudi Arabia: The Matchmaker. While the titular matchmaker might not have the natural candour of our very own Sima Aunty, the Arabic original takes a rather interesting path to reach its goal of showing a mirror to the patriarchy and toxic masculinity in the region.
Cast: Hussam Alharthy, Reem Alhabib, Nour Alkhadra
Director: Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan
Streaming on: Netflix
The film, a telling commentary on the controversial system of Misyar—as part of which secret marriages happen and the wife relinquishes her rights such as cohabitation and financial support—starts off in an almost mythical fashion. A voiceover talks about a woman escaping an abusive marriage by burning her abuser alive, only for her to find a faithful servant for life. Years, decades, and probably centuries later, we are shown the life of an unhappy married man Tarek (Hussam Alharthy), who is desperate to fight out of his self-proclaimed dreary existence. His psyche is moulded by long hours of listening to podcasts where ‘alpha’ men talk about the difference between males and men. It is that droll philosophy that espouses toxic masculinity and upholds patriarchal values. Here, Tarek manifests an alternate reality despite having a loving family tired of waiting for him to return to them. He is in pursuit of something better (‘a younger woman’), and his attempt at philandering wins him a ticket to an eerie desert, where there is a lot of atmospheric intrigue.
In this desert land, we see men coming in droves to do Misyar and absolve themselves of the responsibility of maintaining a family. We soon see a blurring of reality and illusion. Is Tarek seeing his deep desires or is he living through the fears? Is the eerie desert land an extension of his imagination or is that an antithesis of the promised land?
The Matchmaker isn’t focussed on being preachy and wants to create a solid psychological thriller that is more engaging than educating. However, it does take too long to get to the point despite the under 90-minute runtime. On the other hand, there are certain aspects of the film that are left to the discretion of the viewer. While the film does avoid the minefield of oversimplification, it doesn’t always sidestep the abstract mines. We are left to connect the dots even at places where we aren’t sure why there exist any.
While The Matchmaker does offer a rather insightful indictment of the problems in the system, the writers (Fahad Alastaa and Abdulmohsen) don’t exactly paint a tale of hopelessness. The makers believe in the power of people to change. Will everyone be able to do course corrections before it is too late? Probably not, but The Matchmaker believes the consequences of our older actions shouldn’t stop our new efforts to try and become better. And you can’t fault this optimism.
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