“If God wills a boy” is the translation of Inshallah a boy, the first film nominated for the Oscar for Jordan in the “Best international film” category, directed by director Amjad Al-Rasheed. In Italian theaters since March 14th, the film portrays the drama of Nawal, a young widow who must survive, along with her young daughter Nora, in a patriarchal and misogynistic society, set against the backdrop of the chaotic city of Amman.
While the woman is trying to conceive another child, her life is disrupted by the sudden death of her husband. However, little space is given to grief: the man’s disappearance, as the head of the family, limits her daily freedom. In respect of mourning, she is only allowed to leave the house for work, with the obligation to return home before sunset because, according to common belief, darkness represents the temptation of evil.
The balance of the story continues to crack in the presence of her brother-in-law Rifqi, who persistently urges her to pay the remaining installments of the pickup truck, sold some time ago to the deceased brother. He becomes increasingly invasive, even advancing claims to the house where she and her daughter live and even to the custody of the child itself.
Feelings take a back seat to make room for the theme of property, which, according to the legal reality following Sharia law – the set of precepts derived from the Quran – is considered exclusively male domain. In Jordan, Sharia is applied even for the resolution of family and inheritance disputes: in the event of the husband’s death, the wife has no right to inherit property and real estate unless she has male children. Nawal’s only hope of being pregnant with a boy, which would protect her from her brother-in-law’s claims, shatters in front of a negative pregnancy test.
At this point, her personal drama intertwines with that of Lauren, the daughter of the landlady for whom she works as a caregiver. The girl, rebellious in spirit and impatient with religious dictates, tries to escape from an unhappy marriage and end an unwanted pregnancy. Nawal, on the other hand, always a devoted wife and respectful of Islamic law, is now a widow who sees motherhood as her only salvation. Thus arises the alliance between two women, two different faces of the same society that considers female silence and endurance as an act owed in the name of good reputation and family welfare.
The protagonist is betrayed by all the men in her life, from her brother Ahmad who fails to support her as he should because he is too anchored to tradition, to even her deceased spouse, whom she discovers to have been unfaithful and a liar.
In order to retain custody of Nora and avoid eviction, she pretends to be pregnant, succumbing to the sin of lies and going against her morality. However, this lie cannot protect her for long: forced by Rifqui and Ahmad to repeat the tests in their presence, the idea of losing everything begins to emerge. She is a woman in a cage, trapped like the mouse infesting the kitchen and from which she is afraid. But when the outcome seems already written, almost like a divine sign, the test results positive, granting mother and daughter to rebuild their lives on new awareness.
“Hoping it’s a boy” is not just Nawal’s wish, but also that of the audience itself, revealing a bittersweet relief: the woman maintains her rights only thanks to an unborn child.
