The Exam (2021)
8/10
Desperate struggle to break the shackle
4 January 2022
Shawkat Amin Korki's 2021 feature film deals with the story of two women who adopts an unethical way to clear entrance exam for the university. The lurking shadow of a toxic patriarchal society has paved their desperate measures. Their situation doesn't justify their actions but it's also the only way of escaping.

The film constructs an engaging narrative from two sisters, one who is forsaking everything in stake to help her sister pass the exam and the sister herself who is suffering from suicidal tendencies and living in fear to get caught during exam. The lead pair is only a fragment of what is going on there, several persons from different strata's of the society are adopting similar ways to pass the exam. The film efficiently pulls off the genre of crime thriller with occasional instances of bleak humor.

A mirror of the horrors of a toxic society, the film is quite a significant milestone in Kurdish film movement.

The lead pair has given stellar performances and the cinematography and editing adds an noirish feeling to it. Still the film doesn't have the rawness the subject matter deserves to have. It is toned down in some places .
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