Sirens

Director Rita Baghdadi made an excellent documentary about the Middle East's first all-female heavy metal band, which is called Slave to Sirens. These two best friends pursue their art in Beirut as political turmoil unfolds. The film is personal in ways that exceed your usual music documentary. A small film that's worth a watch.

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+

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.

Undoubtedly if you expect a music documentary you will be very disappointed, but this is not the filmmakers' trespass because they didn't pledge any music-genre film.

So is this a movie about a band?

At one point during the film it may seem like a documentary about a band, but also it's not, because you'll finish the film with nothing you knew about the band.

The film only captures the story of two main characters from a female-metal-band in a society that still shows something of conservatism. Lebanon is far more culturally open country compared to its neighbors, so you won't understand wither this movie about the culture challenges that could face a female metal band? But this is not well introduced and captured in the film.

Is it about the freedom of emotional practices in the country? But this is a case discussed timidly during the film.

Is it about the relationship between two main characters in the band? Maybe

I think that the film is about all of that but very cursory with a technique will not satisfy your ambitions. And the usual cliché scenes of revolution and demonstrations in the Arab world without using them in a real way within the context of the story.

Finally I found the film tickles my desire to know the stories, but does not satisfy it, just like a large number of teen indie films in the Arab world.

And I quote from another review "interesting but noting much"

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!