To provide her daughter with the best possible life, Fatima, a single mother from Algeria, works herself to death as a cleaning lady for both businesses and private customers. Because her French isn’t very good, a gulf begins to open up between her and Souad, 15, who is revolting against her social condition. The older daughter Nesrine puts everything she has into getting into medical school, under the worried and proud gaze of Fatima, who is determined to help her succeed…

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Same setting, new perspective. After focusing on male violence in the critically acclaimed La Désintégration, Philippe Faucon turns to the women: mother, daughter, sister, stuck in confined lives, smothered under the weight of the stares of others, but resolved not to lose their identities or their dreams. Although the subject is not new, the movie does bring something fresh to the issue: because its characters are complex, neither super-heroes nor victims, the result is a sensitive, caring portrait of women living a hard life, with strong performances by Zita Hanrot and Soria Zeroual. Fatima is not a great movie (the directing is simplistic; the writing somber), but it is poignant and engaging.