Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix on Thursday dropped its Saudi Arabian psychological thriller “The Matchmaker,” which centers on a married IT worker who becomes infatuated with a beautiful intern at his office and ventures into ground that breaks several types of local boundaries.
In the film, which is directed by Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan — whose 2019 directorial debut “Last Visit” depicted Saudi’s patriarchal culture — the protagonist (Hussam Alharthy) winds up following the intern (Nour Alkhadra) to an eerie desert resort where a matchmaker (Reem Alhabib) promises men she will pair them with their perfect bride.
The basic premise behind “The Matchmaker,” which is produced by disruptive Saudi shingle Telfaz 11, was to make a genre movie that played on the practice of “misyar,” a no-strings attached marriage often done secretly in Saudi society.
Under the rules of “misyar” the wife waives conventional marriage rights such as cohabitation and financial support. The practice has been legal in the conservative Muslim kingdom for decades.
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