Luxor (film)

Luxor is a 2020 romantic drama film directed by Zeina Durra. It is about a young aid worker, Hanna, who becomes overwhelmed by treating victims from the Syrian war, takes a solo trip to Egypt and runs into an old flame. It was released on November 6, 2020 in digital format.

Plot
When British aid worker Hana returns to the ancient city of Luxor, she comes across Sultan, a talented archaeologist and former lover. As she wanders, haunted by the familiar place, she struggles to reconcile the choices of the past with the uncertainty of the present.

Cast

 * Andrea Riseborough as Hana
 * Michael Landes as Carl
 * Shereen Reda as Dunia
 * Karim Saleh as Sultan
 * Zahra Indigo Rønlov as Indigo

Release
The film was screened at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. It was released on 6 November 2020 in digital format.

Reception
Leslie Felperin of The Guardian gave the film 4/5 stars, praising the actors' performances and writing, "Like director Joanna Hogg, Durra excels at suggesting subtexts and undercurrents threaded through everyday conversations." Tara Brady of The Irish Times gave the film 3/5 stars, writing, "A straight companion piece for Hong Khaou's meditative Monsoon, Luxor offers a strange marriage of travelogue, post-traumatic stress disorder, spirituality and something like romance."

Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a satisfyingly meditative, history-laden space, one that asks us to consider how we reconcile our experiences with our present, and, as a result, with whom we want to be." Variety's Jay Weissberg wrote, "Saleh has a solid résumé in international productions including TV, and he's well-paired with Riseborough in the way he exudes a gentle solidity that Hana needs yet also partly resists, unsure if she can cope with any more emotional attachments."