Oof. That's the first thought that comes to mind after finishing Happy Birthday. This film really weighed on me emotionally. It was quite the depressing film.
The movie starts off with two 7 year old girls, Toha and Nelly, playing together. What we soon learn is that while the two girls are friendly, Toha is actually a maid who is employed by Nelly's family. This was very shocking and disturbing to me.
On Nelly's birthday, Toha wants to help make sure Nelly has the perfect birthday. Toha accompanies the mother as she goes shopping for the party, getting clothes, a cake and food. Once back at the apartment, Toha's sister comes to pick her up. She goes back to her home and we soon see the difference in their lives. Her family survives by catching and selling fish. What makes the movie even sadder is that when Toha asks her mom when her own birthday is, her mother has no idea. She has no idea of the month or date and you can see the indifference she has about it. Toha says she wants a birthday party, and her mother laughs.
Toha makes it her mission to get back in time for Nelly's birthday party. She is innocent and excited to make it back in time, not realizing that the family had called her sister to pick her up, because they didn't want her there.
After watching this film, I was curious and did some googling. I learned that according to a survey in 2021, 1.3 million children in Egypt, nearly 5%, were involved in child labor. That was very upsetting to find out. I highly recommend the film, but it’s truly heartbreaking. It really pulled at my heart. It shows the cruelty of inequality, especially experienced by young children.
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