Barakah yoqabil Barakah

I'm a simple person. If you tell me there is a Saudi rom-com available on Netflix, I will watch it. It's with this mindset I put the movie on; not with any expectation but with curiosity for this cinematic oddity.

Well, damn. After Wadjda, this is two for two for Saudi cinema, fighting to exist in a country that until last week hadn't had a single legal cinema for over 30 years. Barakah follows the lives of two young Saudis both named Barakah, a working-class man who works for the religious police and the daughter of a rich couple who made a lucrative career out of social media celebrity.

Behind its simple guy-meets-girl premise, Barakah Meets Barakah portrays the contradictions and frustrations of Saudi youth. Far from the usual religious-secular dichotomy the country is usually portrayed with, the movie shows the nuances of life in Saudi.

The two leads are a perfect match, 'Bibi' with the freedom her class allows her and a mouth she cannot shut and Barakah, much more shy and reserved with a male privilege he doesn't know what to do with.

This movie made my heart ache, my blood boils while making me laugh out loud.

More than an oddity, a must-watch.