In a Whisper

In a Whisper chronicles the week in which Lilia travels home to Tunisia for her uncle’s funeral. Her sister is the only one who knows the truth about her life in Paris and her relationship with Alice, while her other relatives badger the young woman about starting a family of her own. As new information about her uncle’s death comes to light, Lilia begins to realise that her two worlds are not as separate as she once believed.

Leyla Bouzid’s third feature engages with audience expectations and biases, as she weaves investigative elements of crime fiction into her intimate family portrait. What can seem almost like a detour at first glance ultimately leads back to the foundation of family and the knowledge contained within it, secrets never meant to escape the household.

The cast – which includes powerhouse Hiam Abbass – expertly navigates the power of the unspoken that strengthens the scripted dialogue. Awareness and insight are things that seem to trickle down the matriarchal family tree, becoming more overt with each generation. What Lilia and her sister know, their mother and aunt may suspect, but Lilia’s grandmother actively turns a blind eye, basking in blissful ignorance.

Alongside crafting rich characterisation, Bouzid also finds striking ways to cinematically stage memories. In the rearview mirror of a car, behind a curtain or through the crack of a slightly ajar door, the past shares a frame with the present. Experiences are inseparable from the space where they unfolded and the walls that witnessed these occurrences. Even when venturing outside the family home, the cinematography remains perfectly in tune with its content: in a museum, we only see the Medusa mosaic that the characters are speaking about reflected through a mirror in the ceiling, acutely aware of the mythology.

Although In a Whisper might seem to tread familiar ground at first, it discovers visually poetic and compelling ways to explore these themes, and is truly groundbreaking for representation in Arab cinema. A tender yet unflinching portrayal of family, the film’s unwillingness to sacrifice its roots highlights its cultural significance.