Saudi actress and writer Sarah Taibah describes her film 'A Matter of Life & Death' as a dark comedy that tackles generational trauma, obsession, and grief. Taibah, who wrote the script and plays the lead role of Hayat, told Arab News that dark comedy is her favorite genre because it mirrors reality. 'I have days where I'll cry my eyes out and then really have fun later on. Sometimes I laugh in the middle of crying. If you laugh at problems, they suddenly become lighter,' she said.
Plot and Characters
The film follows 29-year-old Hayat, who believes she has inherited a family curse that will cause her death on her 30th birthday. Stubborn and superstitious, she decides to end her life before the curse does. In the emergency room, she meets heart surgeon Youssef, played by Yaqoub Alfarhan, and becomes convinced he is meant to help her accomplish this unusual task. The film features eccentric characters, including evil aunts Rawya and Nafeesa, a harassing doctor named Asaad, a young child afraid of loss, a yellow-eyed black cat that Hayat believes is her grandmother's reincarnation, and a mother who passes depression to her son's heart during birth.
Director's Vision
Director Anas Ba-Tahaf explained that the film is about how upbringing and parental relationships affect our lives. 'I think audiences generally will relate, because, at its core, it's a movie about generational trauma, and how the way we were raised, or the way we saw our parents dealing with each other, affects how we live our lives. And I think that's a very universal thing. Then there's the idea of obsession, or the idea of trying to be in control of everything, and again that's something that is international,' Ba-Tahaf said. He added that the film is set in a Saudi context with relatable characters, such as the typical aunt and the mean doctor.
Character Dynamics
While Hayat is superstitious and darkly whimsical, Youssef is a brooding doctor with bradycardia, a condition that keeps his heart rate abnormally low except during surgery. Alfarhan described his character as someone who suffers in silence and isolation. 'He comes to realize that maybe all he needed was someone to understand him and his struggles to pull him out of the space that he's in,' he said. Ba-Tahaf noted that the story is about two people who have lost the meaning of life due to their obsessions, and love brings them back.
Visual Style and Themes
The film's aesthetic features purple and pink hues, Hayat's witchy style, and quirky interiors. Taibah explained that underneath the fantasy, color, and romance, there are raw, relatable feelings such as inherited trauma, getting stuck in one's own head, obsessing about control, and fear of opening up. 'It has so much to do with attachment, obsession, and control, and how, in letting go of that, magic happens. This is the theme I wanted to convey. It's very personal, so it wasn't hard to build this world,' she said. Taibah spent about two years writing the script, with ongoing adaptations during filming based on suggestions from Ba-Tahaf, who admitted to being a control freak and using the film to teach herself a lesson.
