Evil hides best in plain sight in “Unidentified,” the latest film from Haifaa Al Mansour, the groundbreaking Saudi filmmaker behind “Wadjda” and “Mary Shelley.”
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Directed and co-written by Al Mansour, the film stars Mila Alzahrani as Noelle Al Saffan, a 29-year-old woman attempting to rebuild her life in the city after a divorce. Obsessed with true-crime podcasts, Noelle takes a job at a police station digitizing old files, only to find herself pulled into an active case when the body of a young woman is discovered in the desert, and the officers need a female presence on the scene.
What begins as a chance to do more than copy-room work quickly becomes something more personal. Haunted by the victim’s senseless death, Noelle launches her own investigation to identify the young woman and solve her murder, even as the case risks being dismissed and forgotten. Despite warnings from the police chief to stay away, Noelle uses her ability to connect with other Saudi women to reconstruct the victim’s life, following the instincts and investigative playbook she has absorbed from her favorite video podcast.
The mystery also forces Noelle to confront her own assumptions about women in the Kingdom, the dangers they face, and the deeper motivations that bind her to the unidentified victim. The supporting cast includes Shafi Alharthi, Aziz Gharbawi, Othoub Sharar, Adwa Alasiri, Abdullah Alqahtani, Aouhod Aljadaan, and Somaya Alshareef.
Al Mansour co-wrote and produced the film with Brad Neimann. The filmmaking team includes executive producers Rena Ronson and Rosalie Swedlin, director of photography Monty Rowan, production designer Martin Sullivan, editors Rafael Nur and Steve Cohen, composers Amelia Warner and Sam Thompson, and costume designer Sarah Al Aqeel.
“Unidentified” had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and has also screened at the Red Sea Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival, and Glasgow Film Festival.
“Unidentified” opens in select city theaters June 19 via Sony Pictures Classic.
