Khabsa - خبصة
A Good Khabsa or a Bad Khabsa? - 7/10
by Miriam Atallah - Movie Sharks
Khabsa is not one of those Lebanese movies about war nor about a major cause like poverty.
However, I also wouldn’t place it into the typical comedic Lebanese Movies where characters talk fus7a about irrelevant topics or sleep with make-up on – although all in all the usage of make-up in this film could have been a lot better.
Khabsa narrates the story of Nayla, a typical Lebanese girl who has typical Lebanese friends and boyfriend with typical Lebanese problems.
It dares to portray a lifestyle that many Lebanese women are living, yet would never go public about.
Cohabitation and premarital sex aren’t the only issues tackled, but also homosexuality, and here is the biggest khabsa of all.
Throughout the movie, we learn about Nayla’s openly gay bestie, and yes, unfortunately the usual Majdi W Wajdi crap was thrown in our faces all over again.
It’s a shame that at the end of the day, it’s comedy so it has to sell, right?
Conversely, later on we learn about another gay but closeted character.
This is when it gets interestingly new in terms of Lebanese depiction of homosexual men.
It was great to have this character showing the other side of being gay in an Arab country.
Regrettably, we only learn about this character at the end so it was not given its proper chance for rightful depiction, as well as it failed in assertively sending the message straight - pun intended.
On the other hand, the boyfriend was really well casted, and his problems were very relatable.
The only absurd thing about this film would be its Hollywoodish happy ending.
Lebanon is not there yet, and I doubt that having a super realistic movie with an absurd happy ending would get our country any step forward.
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