Sisterhood

Q&A with Nora El Hourch on Mar. 9

Our introduction to longtime best friends Amina (Léah Aubert), Djeneba (Médina Diarra), and Zineb (Salma Takaline) finds them fielding the taunts of a group of teen boys at a fast-food restaurant, and their mutual affection and loyalty is immediately apparent: The girls move through high school as an inseparable unit, in the habit of pushing back collectively against anyone who comes at them. But when Zineb is harassed at a party by the drug-dealing cousin of a fellow student (Oscar Al Hafiane), the subsequent decisions made by each member of the tightly knit trio have repercussions that begin to tear the group apart. Casting an unflinching eye on the everyday sexual harassment faced by young women in a social-media-drenched environment, and its unpredictable consequences, this remarkably assured debut feature from writer-director Nora El Hourch is anchored by vivid, fiery, and entirely unexpected turns from the trio of exciting newcomers at its center.