The film's premise involves a devout elderly patriarch forcing his reluctant teenage son to drive them from their home in France to Saudi Arabia on a once-in-a-lifetime religious pilgrimage. In this road-movie, director Ismaël Ferroukhi handles cultural and generational differences with skill, while challenging preconceived notions about Islam. A few weeks before his high school final exam, Réda, a young man who lives in the south of France, is chosen to drive his aging father to Mecca for the traditional pilgrimage. From the start, the journey promises to be difficult, as Réda and his father have nothing in common. They are separated by culture, language and religion. Réda is a modern young man who does not speak Arabic and cares little about his father's deep sense of religion. Through Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Réda and his father interact minimally and the grandiose settings and often-desolate landscapes reflect this uneasiness. As their journey progresses, their adventures and misadventures bring father and son closer, forcing mutual recognition and reconciliation. In Mecca, where the filmmaker received rare permission to shoot, Réda's father disappears in the crowd of pilgrims, never to return. In this road-movie, Ismaël Ferroukhi handles cultural and generational differences with skill. In the director's efforts to "stop the clichés that are carried around about a community that is deeply pacifist and peaceful". the film challenges preconceived ideas about Ismaël Ferroukhi (Not Rated)

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