Movie Review 'Sand Storm' 2016 Sundance Film

Modern female empowerment arm wrestles centuries-old Middle Eastern male dominance in Sand Storm, a dramatically absorbing if (perhaps inevitably) frustrating account of a mother and daughter stymied by cultural norms stacked entirely in favor of the man of the house. It's impossible not to sympathize with the dilemma of a bright young woman who'd like a piece of the modern world being held back by centuries-old customs that most societies have cast off. But international literature and cinema have offered so many similar stories in recent decades of women trying to assert themselves, with varying but mostly progressive degrees of success, that watching such a rudimentary tale in which there are essentially no options available makes for a trying experience in and of itself. A sort of sister film, thematically if not stylistically or aesthetically, to the current Mustang, Israeli writer-director Elite Zexer's feature debut will certainly attract notice on the festival circuit and will likely tempt some small distributor interest in some markets.

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