The Daughters of Abraham

Hanaël El Yousfi

Drama

Programme: Discovery
Year: 2026
Runtime: 94 min
Country: France
Language: Arabic / French
Premiere: International Premiere

After several years apart, Myriam, a young woman from a Muslim background who grew up in Marseille, reconnects with Eva, who comes from a Jewish family, during the summer vacation. Together, they live out their youth outside the imposed norms. But this carefree summer begins to unravel when a tragedy upends the balance of their social and family circles—and soon, their own destinies.

From the TIFF programme

A young Muslim woman raised in Marseille reunites with a young Jewish woman after a period of estrangement, reconnecting as friends over summer break. When a sudden tragedy disrupts their carefree holiday, the pair face the similarities and differences that strengthen and threaten their relationship together.

In her feature debut, French-Moroccan director Hanaël El Yousfi reunites two estranged friends over the summer holidays, as each of them is reminded of the special bond they shared during adolescence. Away from the pressures of parents and peers, Myriam and Eva are now free to cherish young adulthood and independence.

The story expands on El Yousfi’s fascination with family, relationships, and community previously explored in the 2021 short film Mazel Brouk, which follows five young women at a bachelorette party over a weekend in France. Coming from varied cultural and religious backgrounds, the pre-wedding tradition exposes initial differences, but later unites them as they share stories of their sexual lives and troubling experiences under patriarchy.

In The Daughters of Abraham, the film’s incisive study of faith and gender in society is considerably more concentrated, focusing on Myriam’s Muslim upbringing and Eva’s Jewish heritage, where broader historical tensions inevitably influence their interpersonal dynamics. As the summer progresses, an unexpected tragedy takes place. Its effects threaten to shatter a relationship that had only just been mended, as their extended social circles react to the fallout. After strong performances in El Yousfi’s festival-touring short, César-nominated actor Mélissa Guers and Ava Baya return for a propulsive study of how external structures of gender, power, and politics affect our intimate lives despite our best attempts to connect.

ROBYN CITIZEN