Brides may very well turn out to be one of the most underrated gems at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and it is a daring feature film debut for Nadia Fall. The up-and-coming filmmaker has a background in theater, having even crossed paths with the likes of Michaela Coel in her work, which serves her well in this road trip movie full of humor, heart, and an underlying sense of dread. The Brides in question, Ebada Hᴀssan and Safiyya Ingar, are also newcomers to the big screen — and if anything, their fresh-faced inexperience lends authenticity to the wild, Thelma & Louise-esque adventure on which their characters embark.

Hᴀssan (in her first ever onscreen role) and Ingar (who can also be seen in Netflix’s The Witcher) play Doe and Muna, two Muslim best friends who decide to abandon their homes and head to Syria in search of a fresh start. Though the terms ISIS and Islamic State are not mentioned in Brides, the clues all point to that being the girls’ goal while escaping, though it is evident that their motives are innocently personal rather than political. Audiences who may wish to shy away due to the premise will soon be charmed by the characters’ friendship and wish instead to protect them, much like many of the strangers they meet on their journey do.

ScreenRant interviewed Fall, Hᴀssan, and Ingar about Brides while at Sundance Film Festival, and the trio was effusive in their praise for each other and for the female friendship at the center of the story. While the director did not wish to dwell on the quietly disturbing undercurrent of the movie, she pointed out that the trip to Syria is an extension of the “crazy teenage brain” that any young person possessed, albeit facing very different circumstances.

Nadia Fall, Safiyyah Ingar & Ebada Hᴀssan Break Down The Friendship At The Heart Of Brides

Forget the controversial premise, Brides is all about the unconditional love of two best friends.

ScreenRant: Nadia, this is such a shocking story when reading the premise, but it’s told in such a sweet way. How do you achieve that balance, and what inspired you to make this your feature film debut?

Nadia Fall: First of all, as a director, I could really die when having to do a synopsis of a film. Because you just feel like everything is a giveaway. I’d really like people to watch it and know nothing, but of course, that’s not reality.

I think that there is no denying that on the tin, it’s a H๏τ topic and contentious subject matter. But screenwriter Suhayla El-Bushra and I really just wanted, first and foremost, to tell a story of two young women from certain backgrounds who are not normally given a platform to tell their story — and to do it in a very human way.

From their point of view, it’s a story about friendship. It’s about those ride-or-die best friends you have at school that you love so deeply; it’s how girls are at the back of a bus showing real affection, and it’s really about the way you feel alienated from adults in your life, so you really find each other. It’s about that platonic love of your teenage years, and that kind of crazy teenage brain we all had that is hardwired to take risks. To us, it was about adolescence and friendship. Yes, the context is political, but it’s a road movie about friendship.

ScreenRant: Speaking of that friendship, you two have excellent chemistry. How do you step into that bond? In the film, we see flashes of your past juxtaposed against your tense situation in the present. Did you film in chronological order to get into the mindset of these best friends who love each other more than life itself?

Safiyya Ingar: It was pretty helpful that we filmed a lot of the flashbacks first because we filmed a lot of that in Wales, which was our first location. Foundationally, we got to bond, hang out in an arcade, eat fish and chips on the beach, and do all of that really lovely, cool, fun stuff.

That’s also where we sH๏τ a lot of the school footage, so we had that time, and we also had a rehearsal period with Nadia beforehand — which you don’t usually get. It’s usually quite isolating, and you end up in a room with someone being like, “Oh, you’ve been married for 10 years. Go!” You’re like, “Eh, I just met you…” But we had that time, and it was great.

ScreenRant: Ebada, this is your onscreen debut, which I never would have guessed while watching! Was it intimidating to start in movies with a lead role, and how did you each prepare for it?

Ebada Hᴀssan: Absolutely. I mean, I still don’t feel like any of this is real. It was absolutely nuts. I tried to prepare as much as I could with the incredible script, and having four weeks to prepare and then some time to rehearse was loads of fun.

I think [Nadia] tried to make it as unintimidating as possible, which was nice. As soon as we met, I think we bonded straight away because both of us are from London. I don’t audition much, so going into the audition room and seeing a director was super intimidating. But as soon as you opened your mouth, it was like, “Oh, okay!”

Nadia Fall: I think that it was a real process, and we didn’t have much time. I’m a theater person, where we do get four weeks of rehearsal, and it’s everything. We only had a few days, but I think the audition process that Ebada was a part of was really more like workshop auditions. We met people individually after we did a big social media callout, and we had about 500 or 600 young people.

Ebada struck me straight away because she does this thing that you can’t really learn, which is authenticity. She doesn’t demonstrate; she just is. Beyond that, they did both prepare, and the fact that they had each other and really got on and really respected each other really helped.

Safiyyah has acted before — not loads, you are also at the beginning of your journey as a young actor — and that little bit of experience meant she was able to guide Ebada in a way that was not patronizing. It was really lovely, beautiful thing to watch. And I’m a baby director, so I needed that. Safiyyah had done it, actually, more than me!

Ebada Hᴀssan: I was the squeaky one. But I like that loudness because I was obviously being timid my first time on a set, and being a lead was something so new to me. It sounds corny, but I didn’t understand the level of power and the platform you have there.

But Safiyyah was a constant reminder of that, and even during times when I was like, “I’m not sure I’m comfortable to say this or do this,” she was the first one to be like, “You can say this, you can do this. I am here for you.” I just appreciated having her so much.

ScreenRant: When the movie starts, it really does feel like Muna is the one in charge and leading this voyage. But as the pieces unfold, we learn about their backstories, which are heartbreaking, and we see where the dynamic stems from. Did you all discuss that backstory? It’s not given to us in an explicit, straightforward way, but is instead fed to us in drips throughout the film.

Nadia Fall: I think that I have two very intelligent actors who understand the world and their characters, and they did their own work. Everybody did their own work and came prepared, and I really liked that. As a theater person, I do like to note, and I do want to siphon out performances.

I know with film, you only need it once, but I do really think talking about it and putting it in context helps. We talked about the stakes, and as you said very beautifully, their dynamic flips. It’s not always leader-follower, it flips the other way too. There was so much to think about, so we got into our groove, they took notes very quickly, and we tried things differently.

Despite the chaos of making a film, it was very collaborative. Our Director of PH๏τography was brilliant, and as we got into it, we trusted each other. It didn’t always have to be an idea for me; sometimes the DoP would go, “What about that?” And we’d go, “Yes, that’s a really good idea.” I think women are more collaborative; we don’t need to be the right one.

Brides Is Full Of Natural & Unscripted Moments

The stars & director recall some of their favorite improvised scenes.

ScreenRant: In that vein, there are a lot of characters that Do and Muna meet along the way who would like to collaborate and help you both. Did you each have a favorite stop on your journey?

Safiyya Ingar: Great question. I do love that scene in the kitchen. It is so beautiful, and I found it alienating because I hadn’t experienced that dynamic necessarily. Being on that set on that day and seeing those beautiful older actresses do their thing, speaking their gorgeous language and bonding with us, was just so rewarding.

But it also lent itself to the characters, their isolation and fear, their worries and anxiety — because obviously when someone’s speaking a different language in front of you, you don’t know what’s happening. And obviously, none of us speak Turkish. That was real, so we actually sat there like, “Okay, which bit of the script are they on?”

It was just so beautiful and so much fun, and we explored a lot of that on the day as well with the tea reading.

Nadia Fall: That came from improvisation. With a low-budget indie, time is money, so the more we had it, the better. But yes, there’s a scene where their fortune is told in a Turkish coffee cup, which is traditional, and that came out of being in Turkey and speaking to Turkish people in a semi-improvised scene.

There was also a great scene on the beach with Samir.

Ebada Hᴀssan: He was so fun to act alongside. He’s a hilarious person. He would try and make me break as much as possible when the camera was on me. Trust me, you don’t want to see the other side because he was pulling the craziest faces.

With the characters, it was a love story. She’s obviously deeply religious, and there are things that she’s not supposed to do, so she’s got these boundaries. But also you can see some infiltrating there, and she has these teenage desires like everyone does. It’s just pure teenage love, you know?

Nadia Fall: I think it was so good because that beach was another improv. They were together, and everyone was screaming, “No, no, no, we don’t have time! Oh my God, it’s too cold. Don’t go [in the water].” They were shouting, and I was like, “Don’t worry about them. Don’t listen to them, and just go in!” We got into a lot of trouble on that, didn’t we?

ScreenRant: I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say the ending’s very ambiguous. The, almost as a postscript, there is a flashback that ripped my heart out. So, the question is: why would you do this to me?

Nadia Fall: I don’t want to give away the ending or do any spoilers, but the ending is something that was in the script from the beginning. And lots of people tried to get us not to do that.

We’re all used to, pardon my French, the masculine jerkoff ending. I think women — artists like Michaela Coel, who is someone I love — do endings in a much more multifaceted way. We really fought for that.

But also, I wanted to find room for redemption and hope. It’s the “What if…?” And I think that was the idea. It wasn’t so bleak that we thought we didn’t want to get up in the morning because the story is so bleak. There’s always that little nugget of hope and possibility and a fork in the road.

Updates On The Witcher Season 4 Are Under Lock & Key

Safiyyah Ingar recalls the hubbub over a minor Witcher spoiler.

ScreenRant: Safiyya, you play Keira Metz in The Witcher, and you’re back for season 4. Is there anything you can tease about your sorceress’ story?

Safiyya Ingar: I can’t! They’ve got us in a chokehold so hard, I could say one word and there goes my NDA; my phone’ll blow up.

I remember I got in so much trouble. I can say this because technically people already know, but we went in for stunt training mid-last year. I posted a picture of the prop swords, and it was just an ambiguous little thing. There was no indication of anything in there. I was just like, “We’re back.” And everyone knew we started filming, so it was fine.

But I got a call… It was not fine! “Hello, you need to take that down.” I was like, “Hello, who is this? “You need to take that off your social media. There’s been a security breach. The news tabloids have got ahold of it.” And I was just like, “But it’s a box of swords! The Witcher carries a sword!”

But what I can say is that Liam looks great. That’s it. That’s all I can say.

More About Brides (2025)

Two teenage girls in search of freedom, friendship, and belonging run away from their lives in the UK with a dangerous plan of traveling to Syria.