Scales (film)

Scales (سيدة البحر, "Mistress of the Sea") is a 2019 internationally co-produced mystery drama film directed by Shahad Ameen. It was selected as the Saudi Arabian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Plot
On a remote island, families ensure a bountiful fishing yield for the village by sacrificing a daughter to the sea. At one such ceremony, Muthana (Al Farhan), is set to sacrifice his daughter but rescues her at the last minute.

Twelve years later, the daughter, Hayat (Hajjar), is ostracized from her family and community; one of her feet is covered in a small patch of scales. Her mother's new pregnancy appears to be an opportunity for a second daughter to sacrifice, which would allow Hayat to rejoin her family. When the new child is a boy, Hayat is again brought to the sea for sacrifice, and escapes once more.

It is revealed that the villagers are harvesting and eating mermaids, who originated as the daughters sent to the sea. Hayat joins the men and boys of her village on a fishing boat, where she is often at odds with their leader, Amer (Barhoum). In a final act of defiance, she returns to the sea which swallows her whole.

Cast

 * Basima Hajjar as Hayat
 * Yaaqoub Al Farhan as Muthana
 * Abdulaziz Shtian as Yaser
 * Ibrahim Al-Hasawi as Saada
 * Ashraf Barhoum as Amer

Production
Scales was filmed on the Musandam Peninsula in Oman.

Release
Scales premiered during the International Critics' Week section of the Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Verona Film Club Award. In July 2021, Variance Films released the film in New York City and Los Angeles.