Capernaum (film)

The main character of the film is a 12-year-old boy named Zain, who lives in Beirut, in a dysfunctional and large family that makes money selling home-made narcotic drinks. All children in the family do not have documents, do not attend school and are interrupted by random earnings. One day, Zain's 11-year-old sister, Sugar, parents marry a homeowner to pay off their debts. Zayn can’t put up with such cruelty, trying to stop her parents, take her sister away, and hide the fact that her reproductive functions are developing. But he could not stop this and, having received a stone in the back from his mother, Zayn leaves the house in search of a better life. An elderly man in the costume of a cockroach man sits down to him. The man’s words that no one needs him resonate with Zayn, and he lands at the same stop, but does not have time to catch up with the man who works in the amusement park. All stocks and money are running out, he is trying to find at least some work. In an amusement park, he is seen by a migrant woman Rachel from Ethiopia. The inconsolable boy was able to make her take pity, and she takes him home to look after her illegally born son Yonas. The baby is the fruit of the love of Rachel and the local Lebanese, however, in a patriarchal Lebanon, such a union is considered immoral, and the existence of the child must be hidden, otherwise it will turn into a terrible shame for the whole father of the whole family, and Rachel can even criminalize “adultery” punishment. Zayn, born in a large family, copes with the role of a nanny. Rachel is trying to extend a fake residence permit, but she is short of money. One day she is caught by police and detained for further deportation. Zayn tries to find Rachel, but soon realizes that she will not return. He begins to try to feed the child, find money, falls into the bait of a local scammer who offers for big money to transport Zayn to another country in exchange for the child Rachel.

Having tried his last strength in the hope of not breaking up with the baby Jonas, to whom he has already become very attached, Zayn realizes that it is better to give it to the merchant for “sending him into a good family”. The merchant says that he will transport Zayn himself to any country to good people, but he must bring at least some document to confirm his existence. Zayn takes the proceeds from the sale of the child and goes to his home for documents. Trying to quietly get paper, Zayn was defeated, and when parents notice the prodigal son, they begin to beat, threaten and expel him. Father, demonstrating to Zayn that he and his brothers and sisters do not have documents, speaks about the document from the hospital. At the exit, Zayn realizes that this is a death certificate, and begins to ask all family members who died. Everyone is silent, but Zayn guesses for himself - it's Sugar. Grabbing a knife, the boy runs after the groom Sugar, which he initially did not like at all. As a result, Zayn receives 5 years in prison. In prison, he meets Rachel, and they manage to communicate with each other. After being transferred to a juvenile prison, the boy sees on TV a program that talks about children from dysfunctional families, child abuse and helps these children. Zayn manages to get through to the program and talks live about the fate of the children from the slums. Zayna visits her mother and talks about her pregnancy. Zayn realizes that the mother is not learning anything, and the child will suffer the same way he does. In the end, Zayn sues his parents for giving him life, in court he learns that his younger sister Sugar became pregnant immediately after the wedding, but died of bleeding a few months later, as she was not yet ripe for sex and childbearing. Doctors could save her life, but refused because of the absence of any identification documents. The seller of fake documents is being detained, including hidden illegal migrants, among whom was baby Yonas. The film ends on positive notes, although Rachel, along with other Ethiopians, is deported, but she is allowed to take Yonas with her, and Zain receives his first identity card.

• Zayn Al-Rafaea - Zayn Al Hajj
• Yordanos Shiferev - Rachel
• Boluwatif Treja Bankole - Yunas
• Kavtar Al-Haddad - Suad, Zayn's mother
• Fadi Kamel Yusuf - Selim, Zayn's father
• Nadine Labaki - Nadine

The film was welcomed by critics. On the Rotten Tomatoes website , the film received 121 positive reviews out of 138 with an approval rating of 88% (rating 7.81 out of 10) ^{[1] [2]}