Corps étranger (original title) / 2016 / drama / 1h 32min / directed by Raja Amari /
country: Tunisia | France / language: French | Arabic with English subtitles
“A resourceful but undocumented girl who escaped from Tunisia finds a job in Lyon as the aid and companion of a French-Arabic widow in Foreign Body (Jassad Gharib/Corps Etranger), the fourth feature from Maghrebi director Raja Amari. Though Palestinian star Hiam Abbass again plays a mourning widow — like in Amari’s much-lauded debut, 2002’s liberation-through-bellydancing drama Red Satin — this is nonetheless a rather different animal. Touching on themes such as jihadism, class differences, power games, complex family relationships and unexpected sexual affinity (with the younger and older woman both intrigued by each other and an enigmatic but handsome Tunisian)… Amari does remain committed to a gritty handheld aesthetic even after her protagonist has reached the city.
Boyd van Hoeij, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
LUMIERE CINEMA 