UNIDENTIFIED

(director/writer: Haifaa Al-Mansor; screenwriter: Brad Niemann; cinematographer: Monty Rowan; editors: Olivia Eliiseo, Agustin Rexach; music: ; cast: Mila Al Zahrani (Nawal), Aziz Gharbawi (Ali), Abdullah Alqahtanial (street artist), Abdullah Al-Qahtani (Meeshaal), Shafi Al Harthi (); Runtime: 99; MPAA rating: PG-13; producers: Haifaa Al-Mansor, Brad Niemann; Sony Picture Classics; 2026-Saudi Arabia-in Arabic with English subtitles)

“Police procedural set in Saudi Arabia.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
Haifaa Al-Mansor (“Wadjda”/”The Perfect Candidate”) is the first female filmmaker from Saudi Arabia. She ably directs this police procedural set in Saudi Arabia.

Nawal (Mila Al Zahrani) works as a clerk for the police department. A female teenager’s murdered body is found in the desert. A woman is needed to examine her corpse, which is how Nawal gets involved.

The victim’s family is not interested in finding the killer. If no one comes forth to claim the body in two weeks, the girl will be buried in an unmarked grave. But the divorced Nawal takes an interest in solving the murder mystery, despite the disapproval of her supervisor.

The second half of the feminist film gets interesting with a few twists and surprises, as Nawal’s investigation upsets the entrenched patriarchal system by bringing up some upsetting truths.

The slow-pacing until it gets to the tense final act is a turn-off. But Mila Al Zahrani puts on a good performance, the director puts together a watchable whodunit, and the Saudi Arabian background that rarely gets into a western film, proves to be interesting. The film speaks volumes against silencing women, as that’s seen as a backward position to take in the modern world.

It played at the Tribeca Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 6/21/2026  GRADE: B-
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