Adam (Maryam Touzani, 2019):Morocco, France, Belgium

Reviewed by Ethan Messecar. Viewed at AFI Fest 2019.

I walked into “Adam,” knowing literally nothing but the title. I was tired and starting to feel as though I could not be surprised by anything else at AFI film festival. I am happy to report that for anyone who has been or is suffering from viewer’s burn out, I highly recommend “Adam” because it is just as creatively surprising as it is emotionally resonant.

The story follows the character of Samia(Nisrin Erradi), a very young and very pregnant woman, who is living on the streets of Casablanca and looking for work. One afternoon, she knocks on the door of a woman named Alba(Lubna Azabal). Alba lives with her 8-year-old daughter, Warda(Doua Belkhaouda), and runs a small bakery out of her home. At first Alba is extremely reluctant to be involved at all with an unmarried pregnant woman, due to the heavy stigmas that are attached in Morocco. After her daughter pleads with her however, Alba gives in, letting Samia sleep on the couch as well as work in the bakery. What develops through the course of the film is a connection between the three characters that goes beyond friendship and turns into family as Alba and Warda vow to help Samia get through her pregnancy.

First impressions of the plot might evoke comparisons to the standard, boilerplate, “Oscar bait” type of film. Films like “The Blind Side” or “The Soloist” that are designed to give upper middle class white people a sense of satisfaction in seeing a “white savior” archetype taking an impoverished minority under their wing and “helping” them to become upper middle class like them. Luckily “Adam” in no way panders to such a demographic. Alba’s situation is not much better than Samia’s. She lives with the cultural stigma of being a widow, struggles with maintaining a small business all on her own in a state which has fallen lower on the fragile state index most recently in 2019, and seems emotionally incapable of relaxing and enjoying time with her daughter. While Alba does give Samia a roof under her head, Simia ends up helping Alba to come to terms with her husband’s death as well as appreciate life. There is no “white savior,” these women save each other, and thusly themselves.  A far more empowering message. 

The film becomes an intimate affair, rejecting artiface through its cinematography as director, Maryam Touzanit, opts for a handheld, documentary-esque experience. This puts the viewer in the perspective of these characters, emphasising the physicality of their world. The camera focuses on the sweat on their heads, the coarseness of their hands, and the pain in their faces as they are forced to make difficult decisions. Complementing this is the film’s use of light, which treats the sun as an inescapable threat pouring out of the outside world and into the sanctuary of the home, in which the characters much block out the oppressive light.

If there was any justice in this world, “Adam” would be nominated for several Oscars including best foreign film, best actress, and best supporting actress. In a world that seems to be becoming exceptionally adept at ignoring any sense of humanity, it is extremely gratifying to see a film that is so unabashedly human. If not my favorite film at AFI Fest this year, then I think it may be one of if not the most important, for that very reason.