Brides (2025 film)

Last updated

Brides
Directed by Nadia Fall
Written bySuhayla El-Bushra
Produced by
  • Nicky Bentham
  • Marica Stocchi
Starring
Production
companies
  • Neon Films
  • Rosamont
Distributed by Vue Entertainment (United Kingdom) [1]
Release dates
  • January 24, 2025 (2025-01-24)(Sundance)
  • September 26, 2025 (2025-09-26)(United Kingdom)
Running time
93 minutes [1]
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Italy
LanguageEnglish

Brides is a 2025 British-Italian film directed by Nadia Fall from a screenplay by Suhayla El-Bushra. It is starring Ebada Hassan and Safiyya Ingar. The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Contents

Synopsis

Two teenage girls decide to run away from the United Kingdom to travel to Syria after experiencing Islamophobic discrimination in school. [2] When their fixer doesn't turn up to their arranged meeting place, they get stranded in Istanbul, and must find a way to travel to the Syrian border before someone realises they've run away from home.

Cast

Production

The film comes from director Nadia Fall, in her feature-length debut, and screenwriter Suhayla El-Bushra. It is produced by Nicky Bentham for Neon Films alongside Marica Stocchi for Rosamont. [3]

Catryn Ramasut and Alice Lusher of Ie Ie productions are co-producers. It is a UK and Italian co-production and is supported by the BFI and Ffilm Cymru Wales, Creative Wales, Great Point Media, the Italian Ministry of Culture Minority Co-production Fund, Friuli Venezia Giuila Audiovisual regional fund and Rai Cinema with Bankside Films handling international sales. It was developed with the BFI and won the Breaking Through the Lens Action Grant in 2023. [4]

Principal photography took place in Wales, Turkey and Italy. [5]

Release

The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. [6] It screened at the Munich Film Festival where it won the Fritz Gerlich Trophy for its contribution to human rights and antiracism through cinema. The jury described Brides as an examination of how young people must be "cared for with care and attention, warned against, and protected from dangerous manipulation," and shows "how a series of minor catastrophes ultimately escalate into a major catastrophe." The jury for the prize continued, "the film impresses with its topicality”.

it also screened in the Open Air Premiere Programme at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival in August 2025 [7] where it won the TeenArena Jury Award for Best Feature Film and in the Official Selection of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Brides was released in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2025 [1] by Vue Lumière, with a nationwide preview day on September 23 and a special Q&A screening at BFI Southbank on September 25.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 82% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.0/10. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Brides (15)". British Board of Film Classification . August 20, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ellwood, Gregory (January 17, 2025). "25 Most Anticipated Sundance Film Festival 2025 Premieres". The Playlist.net. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  3. Gregory, Rhys (January 16, 2025). "Welsh Films to Watch in 2025". Wales247. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  4. "BANKSIDE FILMS TAKE ON WORLDWIDE SALES OF NADIA FALL'S DEBUT FEATURE FILM BRIDES". ffilmcymruwales. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  5. "Bankside Films says yes to Nadia Fall debut 'Brides' (exclusive)". Screen Daily. February 15, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  6. Baughan, Nikki (December 12, 2024). "Brides', 'The Thing With Feathers', 'Rabbit Trap' among UK films heading to Sundance 2025". Screen Daily. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  7. Georg Szalai (August 4, 2025). "'Dreams,' 'Sentimental Value' Among Sarajevo Film Festival's Open Air Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  8. "Brides". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved February 10, 2025.