Britney Vs Spears (2021, Netflix)

This is the third high-profile film that’s come out about Britney Spears’ shockingly cruel conservatorship. The first one, Framing Britney Spears (2021), now available on the New York Times website, reintroduced the world to Britney, her treatment by the press and the taking over of her life by her previously estranged father through a court-approved conservatorship that stripped the star of her freedoms and right to make decisions about her life — whether personal or professional.

Next up was Mobeen Azhar’s BBC Two film, The Battle for Britney: Fans, Cash and a Conservatorship (2021), which delved deep into interviews by people close to her or those who managed to get close for a while. Among its shocking revelations was that a court document showed that Britney had been given a dementia diagnosis. It’s extremely rare among young people, most of whom don’t work like she did.

The filmmaker Erin Lee Carr has reportedly been working on this film for over two years. She has, to her credit, powerful films highlighting violence and systemic abuse against, as well as by, women in films, and series such as At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal (2019), I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter (2019) and Mommy Dead and Dearest (2017).

Just off the bat, this is not the ‘best’ Britney Spears documentary out there. It’s difficult finding a new way to tell a story about an issue and a person that has been obsessively covered by the news media since the 1990s. It comes across more as the ‘making of’ Britney Vs Spears, with the filmmaker featuring herself and an associate going through various evidence they’ve collected, discussing it and interviewing people about it.

A selection of what to watch this week on streaming platforms...

We find out — spoiler alert — how even before the conservatorship, she didn’t trust her family and developed a close relationship with one of the paparazzos following her, claiming she felt safer with him than her family. We also find out the number of times Britney tried changing her lawyer, the lengths to which a Rolling Stone journalist tried to go to ‘free’ her, the extreme measures taken by her conservatorship to limit her interaction and exposure to the world, how she was constantly bullied, threatened and even drugged so she would remain compliant.

It’s not the best film, but it’s still an informative film and, at times, deeply painful to see. But it’s a must-watch for anyone who was into pop culture in the late ’90s and early 2000s. With its shortcomings, if anything, Britney Vs Spears and the other films make it glaringly clear: we need to hear from Britney herself.

The Angel (2018, Netflix)

This is a gripping, beautifully captured film about the real-life story of Ashraf Marwan, an Egyptian spy for Israel — their most precious asset — who also happened to be Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser’s son-in-law and later his successor, Anwar Sadat’s confidante. The fact that such a person existed and, given his close relationship with the then president of Egypt, that he would collude or work for the one country his own country was preparing to go to war with, is shocking enough to begin with.

The Angel — the codename the Israeli intelligence gave to Ashraf Marwan — is based on the New York Times’ best-selling book, The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel by Uri Bar-Joseph. This period drama is both a treat for the eyes and has a well-structured, gripping narrative that keeps you hooked throughout, about a part of history we don’t often see explored in films.

A joint Egyptian-Israeli production, watch The Angel for its stunning and deeply mesmerising portrayal of a covert side of history, of unusual and dangerous alliances and actions that altered history as we know it and deep, deep devastating betrayal.

Al Rawabi School for Girls (2021, Netflix)

This series has caused quite a stir in Egypt and Jordan, with fierce debates raging across the region about whether it accurately represents Arab culture or not. Personally, even as a Pakistani, I found it very relatable.

The series revolves around the queen bees at the Al Rawabi School for Girls in Amman, Jordan, and their targets — the bullied outcasts — who’ve had enough and plot a series of takedowns to get their tormentors in trouble, but often, to absolutely devastating consequences.

It starts off as any regular Hollywood-inspired teenage drama but this series, by the multi-talented duo of Shirin Kamal and Tima Shomali, delves deep into the backstories and perspectives of the shared experiences of all of its characters so sensitively that, by the time the series ends, you realise there is no black and white, no winners and losers, no queens and outcasts.

These are just young women navigating a deeply patriarchal world, trying to grasp at any freedom available, trying to live their life to the very fullest and figuring out who they are in the process.

As Pakistanis, there’s so much we can relate to on a cultural level. Whether its families keeping a close eye on their daughters, who their friends are and their overall movements, more conservative teachers scolding students for showing “skin” by baring their arms, those families who are paranoid about their “honour”, chaperoned school trips or skipping school and trying not to get caught because that’s the only time you’re allowed out of the house, much here will resonate with us.

It’s a light-hearted watch. By the end, you just might find yourself, at the very least, humming the anthem of the Al Rawabi School for Girls. The series ends on a tragic cliff-hanger. One cannot wait for Season Two.

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 10th, 2021