No time is wasted in establishing that our title character knows where she stands politically. It is easy to feel sorry for her situation and empathize how one can be seduced by the rhetoric of radicals when you are helpless against law enforcement, stupid people and your own parents.
She never seems like more than a child as she dives into the world political activism only to find reality does not always meet expectation.
The breezy efficient tone make this palatable that isn't a comedy but know how to time itself. A TV series of this story would just feel like a chore.
A simple cycle of inspiration and disillusionment within earshot of a more complicated world but this is definitely about the personal journey and how our politics is often more about reacting to ourselves than to the world.
My favorite scene is Layla playing soccer with the children.
If you are fascinated by the process of how people in the developed world are jihadized then you'll be disappointed but this was definitely made with an agenda and that was to humanize, without apologism, a certain kind of person who we are punishing greatly for understandable errors.
