Pegasus (Pegase)

Year: 2010
Country: MOROCCO
Run Time: 104 minutes

When a young woman shows up wounded, pregnant, and with no memory of her past on the doorstep of a mental institution, weary female psychologist Zineb is persuaded to take on the case. Initially reluctant and fearful of the woman's inexplicable origin and refusal to communicate, Zineb gradually coerces her to divulge her belief that she is being stalked by the mysterious and dangerous "Lord of the Horse." As the girl, Rihanna, slowly opens up, a flashback sequence begins in which we witness Rihanna's painful childhood when she was forced to live as a boy by her domineering, ashamed father. Coping with her own issues of identity and trust, young Rihanna befriends and ultimately falls in love with an orphan boy, Zayd. Yet, as more of Rihanna's truth emerges, Zineb must face her own repressed memories, resulting in an astonishing, unexpected interwining of both women's stories. A psychological thriller, PEGASUS is a visually and emotionally arresting chronicle of the trauma of rape and women's struggle with identity. (In Arabic with subtitles) – M.M.

• Tweet