A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist, and her strict father during the Gulf War.
Acting
Summer Bishil's fearless, unreadable stillness.
Direction
Ball's clinical eye refuses to look away.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes politeness.
Director
Alan Ball
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title is a slur Jasira's father uses; Ball fought the studio to keep it. Summer Bishil was 19 playing 13, requiring intimacy coordinators for scenes with Aaron Eckhart.
Released in 2008, the film eerily predicts post-9/11 surveillance of Arab-Americans and the eventual #MeToo reckoning with 'nice guy' predators in suburban enclaves.
US
