Announced as "A long tale of women dressed in black", Nadine Labaki's drama is more whimsical and enjoyable than that suggests.
Set in a mountain town in an unnamed Middle Eastern country it examines the way its Christian and Muslim inhabitants, at peace for so long, are suddenly at loggerheads once news of conflict arrives from the outside world.
The town women, weary of war's disasters, embark on a plan to foil their bellicose menfolk. Lebanese-born Labaki directs, co-writes, and stars as Amal, chief instigator of the eccentric peace process.
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