À mon âge je me cache encore pour fumer

I STILL HIDE TO SMOKE is an impressive showcase for the acting talents of Hiam Abbass, best known to American audiences probably from her role as Ramy's mother in the dramedy series RAMY. Here she is the fiercely protective lead masseuse and "mother hen" of her hammam, a spa for women and children that is one of the few safe spaces for women an increasingly fundamentalist Algeria circa 1995.

Within the walls of the hammam there is a pregnant relative hiding from an abusive man, a bridal party, a man crazy assistant masseuse, a matchmaker, two former friends on opposite ends of a political/religious divide and more. In short, a whole community of Algiers women seeking comfort and freedom within Fatima's walls. The movie does not transcend or reimagine its theatrical origins, but it works and the performances are terrific. The dangers of the misogynist world these women inhabit are not at all shortchanged, but the poetic ending (which might come out of left field to many) brought a tear to my eye and felt just right to me. Definitely worth seeking out, preferably in a format without commercial interruption.