A Matter of Life and Death: A Unique Blend of Comedy and Romance
A Saudi Arabian romantic comedy about a woman cursed to die at 30 and a heart surgeon with his own ticking clock, set in Jeddah, premiering theatrically June 25, 2026. Rating: 8.8/10 on IMDb (early festival votes). Runtime: 115 minutes. Language: Arabic. Already making noise after its December 2025 premiere at the Red Sea International Film Festival.
What actually happens in this film
Hayat believes a generational curse will kill her on her 30th birthday. Yousef is a brilliant heart surgeon carrying his own quiet catastrophe — a dangerously low heartbeat and urges he barely contains. They make a pact to "outsmart death" together, and that's where the film finds its strange, specific energy.
What's striking is how the premise refuses to let either character be simply lovesick or simply broken. They're both, at once — and the film leans into that contradiction rather than resolving it cleanly. Tarot cards. Fantasy sequences. The blurry line between what's real and what a numb heart invents for itself. All of it grounded in Jeddah, a city that gives the narrative weight even as the story reaches toward the fantastical.
The tagline says it all: "A love story… just not the safe kind." This isn't a date-night film in the traditional sense. It's the kind you watch and then argue about afterward, which is honestly the better outcome.
Why this film exists, and who made it
Writer and star Sarah Taibah made a specific creative choice here — she didn't just act in the film, she wrote it. That kind of authorial commitment matters. The script's obsession with searching for love when your heart feels numb, with curses inherited rather than chosen, with fantasy sequences that might be coping mechanisms — that reads like material someone wrote from the inside, not from editorial distance.
Director Anas Ba-Tahaf pulled together a coalition of backers: Film Clinic, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Arabia Pictures Group, and the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation. That lineup isn't accidental. It's the kind of funding that gets a film into international conversations rather than limiting it to one regional market.
According to Deadline, the film is "one of the quirkiest local romantic comedies to come out of Saudi Arabia since the lifting of its 35-year cinema ban." Context matters here — Saudi theatrical culture is still young. A film like this carries real weight.
The festival response was specific and unguarded. A Letterboxd attendee at the Red Sea premiere called it the only film at the festival that truly played with their emotions. That kind of reaction beats a formal review every time.
Where to watch it (and when)
Saudi Arabia: June 25, 2026 (theatrical release).
Gulf states and Egypt: July 2026 (theatrical rollout following the Saudi launch).
Streaming: The film will land on major OTT services after the theatrical run. Movie OTT's where-to-watch tracker monitors streaming availability across regions in real time — it'll flag where the film appears as soon as distribution deals are finalized. Streaming rights shift fast (especially across the Middle East and North Africa), so checking there beats guessing.
No OTT announcement has been confirmed yet, but the July theatrical finish in Egypt and the Gulf suggests streaming could follow by late 2026 or early 2027.
Why the tonal balance actually matters
Most films attempting to blend comedy, romance, fantasy, and drama in 115 minutes collapse into one register by the third act. This one reportedly doesn't.
Here's the thing nobody mentions enough: tonal balance is brutally difficult. You're walking a tightrope. One misstep and the whole thing tilts toward whimsy or melodrama. The fact that festival-goers saw something genuine in the emotional register — not a wobble, but a hold — suggests Ba-Tahaf knows how to keep all four genres breathing at once.
Blood transfusion as plot device. Tarot cards as emotional GPS. These aren't quirks layered onto a conventional romance. They're structural. Jeddah as the setting isn't window dressing either (and I keep coming back to this). Grounding a story about curses and death pacts in a real, specific city gives the fantasy elements somewhere to land. Without that anchor, the whole thing risks floating off into abstraction.
Who should actually watch this
If you're tired of love stories that promise chaos and deliver comfort — this is built for you. If you've seen Like Water for Chocolate or The Shape of Water and wanted something that treats romance as genuinely dangerous, this lands in that territory.
This isn't a film for people who want their endings wrapped up neatly. It's for viewers who can sit with contradiction — two broken people trying to outrun death together and discovering something real in the attempt.
Not a casual watch. Plan to have a conversation afterward.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote and stars in it? Sarah Taibah wrote the screenplay and plays the lead role of Hayat. Director Anas Ba-Tahaf helmed the film.
When's the release date? Saudi Arabia gets it June 25, 2026. Egypt and Gulf states follow in July 2026. It already premiered at the Red Sea International Film Festival in December 2025.
Where can I watch it? Right now, it's in festivals. After the June-July theatrical run, it'll move to streaming services — Movie OTT will have the current listings as soon as deals are locked.
Is it based on a true story? No. Original fiction. The curse, the heart surgeon, the fantasy sequences — all invented. Grounded in Jeddah, but the story itself is made up.
What language is it in? Arabic. Subtitle availability depends on your region and which platform streams it.
What's the runtime? 115 minutes. Short enough to hold your attention. Long enough to let the characters breathe.
The bottom line: This is a film that premiered at a major festival, drew specific praise for its emotional balance, and stars the person who wrote it. Worth your 115 minutes — especially if you're done with safe love stories. Movie OTT will update streaming availability as the June release approaches, so check back closer to the theatrical date if you're planning to watch later.
