Written and directed by Milena Aboyan, Elaha, 22, believes she must restore her supposed innocence before she weds. A surgeon could reconstruct her hymen but she cannot afford such an operation. She asks herself: why does she have to be a virgin anyway, and for whom? Starring: Bayan Layla, Hadnet Tesfai, Derya Durmaz, Nazmi Kirik, Slavko Popadic, Armin Wahedi Yeganeh and Cansu Leyan.
It goes without saying that Milena Aboyan picked an incredibly poignant, relevant and important topic for her debut feature. Films rarely delve into all the misogynistic and patriarchal influences that still exist surrounding a woman’s virginity in the western world. It’s a day to day experience for many women in Europe and simply isn’t highlighted enough. That’s perhaps the biggest strength of Elaha that it makes you feel absolutely infuriated to see Elaha (Bayan Layla) treated in that way and to feel such horrific and unnecessary pressures on herself.
Bayan Layla’s performance does a terrific job of highlighting how Elaha internally fights to grapple with the ideals that her very religious and intense culture has ingrained in her versus the life she wants to live and knows she is entitled to. She creates a great battle within this character to face her own naivety and become more aware of the dangers and prejudices that she’s up against.
Wherein comes Hadnet Tesfai’s Stella, to help her on that journey, providing a very steadfast but kind and intelligent presence. She walks the line of wanting to nudge Elaha in the right direction but also trying to let her find that path on her own. Tesfai and Layla make for a great pairing, their scenes together are some of the strongest and most compelling that the film has to offer.
Interestingly Milena Aboyan’s directorial style takes a slightly different approach to the quite raw, emotional story at work. It intensely captures a feeling of youth and there are some genuinely great shots but it has a certain artistic or almost dance like influence at times which doesn’t quite fit. Giving it a loose structure and occasionally feeling like it’s covering the same ground rather than expanding. It’s solid work but it doesn’t help to lend weight or power to the story which is a shame. As well as leaning into the nudity a bit too much which pulls away from its subtlety.
Elaha delves into a very necessary conversation about the dangers that women face from within their own families, due to outdated and erroneous views of womanhood and virginity. Milena Aboyan does a great job to match her directorial style to the qualities of Elaha and Bayan Layla brings her to life in a relatable and sensitive manner, while being excellently supported by Hadnet Tesfai. However, it feels like it couldn’t quite live up to its potential, unable to fully grasp the weight and poignancy of this story. Getting caught up in its youthfulness and going for something with an artistic edge rather than a raw honesty.
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