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The Guardian

Moon review – gripping thriller follows an ex-cage fighter standing up to injustice

This claustrophobic drama-thriller sticks two fingers up at white saviour narratives with its story about a mixed martial arts fighter hired by a super-rich Jordanian to train his teenage sisters. It's directed by Iraq-born Austrian film-maker Kurdwin Ayub, her script inspired perhaps by Princess Haya, wife of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed and half-sister of the Jordanian king, who fled to London in 2019. It's anchored by a fierce, physical performance by choreographer and performance artist Florentina Holzinger. She plays Sarah, an Austrian fighter whose career in the cage is over. The obvious next move is to become a trainer, but Sarah's people skills aren't really up to it: she's blunt and hopeless at small talk. Then comes the offer to work for wealthy Jordanian Abdul (Omar AlMajali), training his sisters. First Sarah must sign an NDA; 'Anything you see inside the house stays inside the house,' smiles Abdul pleasantly. None of the girls seem that interested in training, though worryingly one says she wants to learn self-defence – 'what to do if someone tries to hit me or choke me'. The three sisters are under constant surveillance, home-schooled and not allowed on wifi. Interestingly for a fighter, Sarah seems averse to conflict. As it becomes increasingly obvious the girls are prisoners at home, she seems willing to buy into Abdul's version of what's happening. As a character she doesn't say much, but Holzinger speaks volumes with her body language and posture, the glimmer of doubt in her eyes, a feeling of powerlessness. It's easy to imagine the Hollywood version of this story, with a heroic escape orchestrated by Sarah. But Moon is gripping in its own understated way as it presents the unvarnished reality: that standing up to injustice is harder than it looks in the movies. Moon is on Mubi from 18 July.