Sirens

Exceptional filmmaking and wonderfully human stories portrayed in settings so authentic that it feels like a stroke of destiny for cameras to be present in the moment. A heart-wrenching yearning for freedom of love and music, amidst political and social chaos and intolerance.

There are moments where the camera captures silent expressions that say so much and reveal the inner struggles of the real-life characters living in a world that is not made for them. These five women somehow persist and seem impervious to the devastation around them, including the horrific explosion in Beirut in 2020. The director Rita Baghdadi never plays the female power card, their strength is simply present in every shot, regardless of what they are going through. But what stands out the most is the emotional tension between the two band leads, so authentic and palpable, unmatched by the best of fictionalized accounts of conflicted love and friendship.

Easily the best documentary of 2022.

I was intrigued about an all female metal band in the Middle East. This movie has about 5 minutes about that subject. The rest of the band story is just normal intra-band drama that's not unique to Lebanon or women.

The main through line of the movie is about the two guitar players being lesbians. The singer, drummer, and bass player are barely seen on screen. The guitar player's mother has more screen time.

It was about young women fighting against cultural expectations like getting married and having kids, being straight, and not being into metal. The metal band angle is just one more way they are outside of the norm, but it is just the background for the story.

If you're looking for a story about music, bands, and especially the struggles of a female metal band in Lebanon, you will be disappointed.

If you want a story about 20-something Lebanese lesbians trying to find their way in society, and those women just happen to be in a band, then maybe you'll like it.

Though, taking away my disappointment that the "female metal band" angle was just a publicity tool and not the subject of the movie, I still can't recommend it. It's just not compelling. The lives of some random women. Nothing more.

Saw this back at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival

Directed by Rita Baghdadi and it's about Lilas and Shery, co-founders and guitarists of the Middle East's first all-female metal band, wrestle with friendship, sexuality and destruction in their pursuit of becoming thrash metal rock stars. It's not often we hear about an all female band in the Middle East country so this was pretty intriguing to say the least. However, it wasn't the exact documentary I was hoping for. Baghdadi has good presentation and some interesting conversations, but they get all mixed up with other topics that are honestly unrelated with the movie's purpose.

Lebanon is an interesting country when it comes to it's political stance and culture of gender so it was pretty disappointing that this documentary didn't offer any major insights on the big issues it is wanting to present. The music elements are only presented half way in the film and everything else is about marriage, life, and culture which didn't have any relations with the band at all. The presentation is good and the music soundtrack is good as well. But honestly, there wasn't anything to offer instead just being okay.

Rating: C+

Loved this doc about the first all female metal band from the Middle East! Baghdadi did a great job of exploring life in Lebanon not only as a metal musician but also as a woman - after all, it's all related. It's not easy to be an all female band anywhere, let alone in a region where metal is still more of a nascent genre. The doc also included the effects of the economic crisis and the Beirut explosion on the women's lives and journey as a band. The filmography was really beautifully done and I enjoyed the score as well. I found myself listening to the band nonstop after even though I'm normally not a metalhead. I can't wait to hear more from these women and follow their trajectory!

This film is a beautiful portrait which follows some of the most metal people I've ever seen in the chapter of their origin story. Rita Baghdadi is an documentary cinematographer of the highest quality with the instincts of a D. A. Pennebaker. The editing and original score all hold up to these praises as well.

The women who are the subject of this documentary are utterly fascinating. Fearless for the sake of art and protest to the highest degree. But fearless not in a way that they become or try to be different than who they are to find their voice. Fearless in a way that they handle their personas with natural grace in a climate that would prefer they were different (and by that I mean conform.)

There is criticism that the story doesn't offer more. But that is not real life. This is a character study of real life happening in a country on the brink while a group of young women build a metal band (a very good one.) It's a story of LGBTQ acceptance in the face of discrimination and hate. It's a story of protest in the face of dominant oppression. It's the story of women not doing what their supposed to do. I don't know what's more metal than this.