Sofia (Dhafer L Aidine , 2026): Tunisia | United Kingdom

Reviewed by Brannon Craig. Viewed at SBIFF.

It was Saturday the 7th of February 2026 in Santa Barbara it was muggy, it seemed like it wanted to rain which is a bad word in southern California  the land of eternal spring. It was packed as it has been for the last couple of days.“Sofia,”was the middle movie of my three movie saga for the day. If I did not have to be there I would have gone home and death scrolled  myself to sleep but I had a responsibility and that responsibility was to forcefully enjoy the Santa Barbara film festival at all costs. I have always loved films and have been a fan of the movies since I was a kid. And when I was a kid we would go to the drive-in. And that always sits in my mind’s eye as a gleeful experience and memory. Then I went in and sat down in the theater and almost fell asleep, the seats are nice, reminding me of the ungodly wealth of this rich enclave.  The lights dropped and the chatter stopped and then “Sofia” began, directed by Dhafer L’Abidine who also starred as the main character and was the writer of the script. 

The movie starts out in the English countryside, with an upper middle class family. And a single mom that had to move back with her Dad, after she had had a relationship with a foreigner that was played by Mr. L’Abidine who was deported back to Tunisia by her father who was trying to protect her. They had no faith in the father of the little girl and they were skeptical of him; some of that had to do with the differences in cultures and religion. But also with his past that was criminal in nature. It was normal that the father of the young woman would be apprehensive. Looking for his little girl not to be hurt again! The Mom of the little girl took her to Tunisia to see her father.

Then  the trip took a turn for the worse and the girl got taken hostage or kidnapped by the local authority and by her fathers friend who the Dad killed at the end. Then they framed him and began to hunt him and tell them that they needed to pay 300 000 dollars for them to release the girl. I thought it was well done, and a highly in tuned film. I love the cinematographic form and how it holds the film together as it unfolds in an amazing artistic way. Personally I would like to see more films that are made in this way. Mr L’Abidine executes this film with a professionalism that resonates with heightened  Hollywood gigs. Hopefully we see more from Mr.  L’Abidine in the future. I really enjoyed it and I think everyone in the theater thought the same and afterward there was a discussion with the director himself. He seemed very personal, easygoing that you like to have a beer with. “Sofia,”was done well and should be up for an award this year! Maybe