By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted at Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 13, 2026)

Writer-director Haifaa Al Mansour’s mystery-thriller centers on Noelle (Mila Al Zahrani), a police department administrator and true crime podcast enthusiast who aspires to be a homicide detective. When an unidentified young woman’s remains are found in the desert, something about the case strikes a chord with Noelle, and she feels compelled to solve the mystery herself. Despite a stern warning by her chief, she pulls a Nancy Drew and ingratiates herself into the investigation anyway.

A fairly by-the-numbers police procedural, but imbued with an interesting undercurrent of commentary about the perennial uphill battles that women face in traditionally patriarchal societies.