Interruption

Sarah Taleb (played by Zineb Oukach, who also writes and directs) is a journalist advocating and reporting for women's rights in a country where cultural beliefs and laws systematically diminish those rights. Sarah’s personal situation within her culture is equally complicated and dangerous. Sarah is pregnant and was looking to travel to the United States for an abortion procedure just prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned by the US Supreme Court, a historical moment that’s impact short film Interruption looks to demonstrate was not just felt by women in the United States, but those all around the world.

Now Sarah faces the decision whether or not to undergo the procedure in her home nation, a practice deemed both illegal and immoral by the state, who are waiting for any excuse to finally charge her with “immoral” crimes. But the lines between morality and necessity become blurred even further when the lead detective pursuing her finds out ends up in a situation of his own.

Interruption provides a compelling look at the global imbalance women face everywhere for their rights, especially highlighting the reality for those women within certain cultures who still fight for any kind of equality or rights at all. It isn’t necessarily a film with a tremendous amount of depth or excitement narratively, the character explorations as well are really quite lean. And when all is said and done, the film will likely leave viewers with a number of questions, especially “what happened next” and at times seems a bit unclear as to what aspect of the discussion it's really trying to talk about. But one must applaud the films overall message and purpose that doesn’t shy away from its pertinent subject matter, a central theme that promotes a universally shared concern of equality.

And it’s the point of that message being delivered, rather than how, that should be and rightly is the focal point of Oukach’s film, taking the time to centre its attention on a simple but well-told story. Oukach also manages to demonstrate a good deal of filmmaking prowess as well, interesting uses of perspectives in several shots really highlight the cat and mouse feel and that unnerving sense of constant surveillance, fear and trepidation that exists in such an environment. And both leads can take credit too for enhancing that feeling, managing to convey the gravity of this complex situation with nuanced expression amongst minimal dialogue.

The basic narrative threads might not necessarily lead you anywhere exciting in terms of answers, but Interruption is a film that does well in making us think about the right questions.