By Dan Skip Allen

I’m a fan of murder mystery films even if they take place in foreign countries.The thing is, I haven’t seen a lot of them from Middle Eastern countries.That’s the case with the latest murder mystery movie I’ve seen. “Unidentified”  takes place in Saudi Arabia. Even though it takes place in this country, it has a lot of similar aspects as other murder mystery thrillers. The main character has to uncover what has happened in a suspicious situation. The problem is that in this country, things aren’t done the same way as in my country.That’s where the most interesting thing comes into perspective. That’s why this film is so good and worth watching.

Noelle (Mila AL Zahrani), a recently divorced woman who moved to a new city to get a fresh start. She is a file clerk at a police station and watches crime podcasts in her small apartment. She overhears a murder in the desert adjacent to the city. Her boss decides to let her take a look at the scenes to get a different perspective than from his men investigators. She starts to get more involved in the investigation despite her boss and co-workers telling her to stay out of it. It’s not her job they keep saying. Also, it’s something the community doesn’t believe in either. Women don’t do this kind of work in Saudi Arabia yet at this time. She can’t help herself because this situation has a relatability to a scenario in her own life from the past. She wants justice for this young teenage victim. 

Zahrani plays a typical woman who wants to get to the bottom of this girl’s murder. She’s nosey and does things she’s not supposed to. Despite the subtitles, I can see the emotion in her voice and her investigative skills at work. She is like a bloodhound. She won’t stop until she gets to the truth of this heinous crime. The problem is that she’s being stonewalled by the men and women who she’s trying to talk to to get information about the crime. Because of the nature of the killing, her family doesn’t want to take responsibility for the girl’s body. It’s not a thing they do in this country. That’s where all the big complications come in.There is more than just uncovering who the murderer is at the forefront of this story.

The whole murder mystery thriller in a foreign country that has different rules than America, thing is the most fascinating part of this story. I was interested in how the rules of the country and how they treat women were going to play into the story. There were a lot of signs about the one True God and so forth in the city the story took place in. She got herself into trouble with her bosses and other people whom she encountered in the process of her investigation. She had to step on eggshells regarding how she went about asking questions to these people. They will report her to a higher authority if she’s not careful. They don’t have women who do this in her country.

A few things that added another element to the story were flashbacks to the lead characters’ past before she moved to her new city and got her new job. They went away for a while but came back once she started investigating this young girl’s life. I liked the cinematography in the film. It was pretty crisp and clean. The camera work was very straightforward. The other thing was that there was no music in the movie,  score, or songs. That made the story all the more important; the performances meant a lot more as well. Every word I read on the subtitles hit me harder, especially the further along the film went. These are the things that stood out to me the most while watching it. 

“Unidentified” is very similar in its tone and meat of its story. What sets it apart is the location it takes place and the main character. She is so different from other similar characters. Her background and belief system plays a huge part in the story. One thing I won’t reveal here is that there is a twist to this story that wasn’t earned in the story. I feel that may have been a tacked on element in the film. Zahrani was a good protagonist I genuinely felt interested in throughout the story. Her journey from beginning to end was worthwhile to watch along with. Her relationship with her boss was a pretty good aspect. I liked this film a lot. And not having seen this version of a Murder mystery thriller before. Hopefully, it resonates with others out there.

🌟 🌟 🌟 stars