Elaha (Bayan Layla) is a young Kurdish woman in Germany torn between her unconditional love for her family and her own aspirations. Stuck in a culture where strict patriarchal norms are a given, she is about to get married. One big problem: she’s not a virgin, and to prevent a familial and personal catastrophe she must appear to be one…

The most striking thing about this social drama is the extent to which various ‘hymen-restoration’ procedures are available in Germany, all directed at minority women (mostly Muslim) who have ‘strayed’ prior to marriage. Even government agencies are involved. Co-writer and director Milena Aboyan brings an acute sense of the double standards faced by young Kurdish women and the seemingly unbridgeable gap between what these young women want and what they have to look forward to. Yet Aboyan—and especially newcomer Layla—manage to inject complexity, grace, and humour into the film.