In Cyrus Neshvad’s thriller short, The Red Suitcase, a young woman must go to extraordinary lengths to find freedom. A veiled 16-year-old Iranian girl, Ariane (Nawelle Ewad), is the last passenger through customs at Luxembourg Airport. Unfortunately, the terrified teen doesn’t speak the language and is subjected to a slightly awkward luggage search exposing the teen as a budding artist.
Finally, through, she spies an older gentleman with a bouquet of flowers. Through texts with her father, we learn this man is her husband, Homme (Sarkaw Gorany). Well, really, he’s her soon-to-be husband. The girl ducks off into the bathroom to remove her hijab and plays with her hair hoping to obscure her identity. Her mission: get out of the airport and escape from the man who only knows Ariane has a red suitcase.
“…get out of the airport and escape from the man who only knows Ariane has a red suitcase.”
At its core, The Red Suitcase is a brilliantly crafted thriller worth searching for. Director Neshvad immediately builds sympathy for Ariane as a scared visitor to a strange land. After an uncomfortable encounter with customs, the real reason she is there is revealed in the unwanted wedding. The plot quickly becomes a game of cat and mouse. Neshvad and co-writer Guillaume Levil takes us through the harrowing escape of our heroine, the mouse, giving her mere glimpses of freedom only to foil it over and over again.
Let’s also give credit to Nawelle Ewand as Ariane. Her flawless performance gives us, the audience, the right emotions ranging from frightened to determined. How can you give up on Ariane?
The Red Suitcase has a simple message. When looking at human rights issues from our easy chair on television, it’s easy to see the problem from afar and vote for the right politician who says they’ll fix it. However, films like this are constant reminders that there are individual faces who are the actual victims of the whims of the powerful.
"…a brilliantly crafted thriller worth searching for."
