AlRawabi School for Girls (S1) review: Perfect?
As season 2 of the Jordanian Netflix series is in the air, let's talk about the hype that season 1 created.
It’s recommended to watch season 1 of this before reading. Trust me you won’t regret it.
Season 1 of AlRawabi School for Girls revolves around a girl tormented by a bully gang in her school. This coerces her to become what she isn’t and she plots revenge on this gang. And doesn’t care for even the worst possible outcome.
Not only in the aesthetics department but the show is also outstanding in the storytelling department. One won’t just see the trauma Layan and her friends subject to Mariam but also feel it as if the viewer is the main character. The character development of Mariam is also noteworthy from a mind-her-own-business optimistic career oriented bright student into a full-blown avenger who is as ruthless as a criminal. Then you have Mariam’s friends Dina, who can be described as a bit witty, and Noaf who is a trouble-making “rockstar chick” as her looks and records suggest. Layan could be portrayed as a full-blown villain without any reason. Still, the show does shed some light on the family of Layan who is overly controlling of her personal choices and suffocates her at best when it comes to having a boyfriend. In other words, the show sheds some light on why Layan is the way she is. Layan is a character, with whom one can sympathize rather than completely disregard and the moment that made me feel like she is not a bad girl (although she did bad to Mariam), which Noaf felt in the story is when Lay saved her from a pedophilic old man. This is when Noaf, along with Dina (as their plan is exposed to Rania, Layan’s friend and one of Mariam’s bullies) tries to convince Mariam to forgive Layan but it’s too late.
Tima Shomali, the director of the show, has done a remarkable job when portraying patriarchy, double standards, and internalized misogyny. It’s common in all-girls schools in the Middle East and South Asia to shame girls on their clothes, their make-up, and their ways of putting themselves out if they are liberal in their approach which has done marvelously in this series. The point that ‘what the people would say or think if they find out that our daughter or sister is having a relationship’ without letting the girl take full liberty of her life and her choices.
The styling and make-up of the girls are also applaudable. These girls if you check on Google are well into their 20s and even some are 30 but the styling department made it fully sure that they look like 15–19 year olds. The acting of these girls portraying their characters was great too.
It’s my favorite show for the reasons I mentioned above. AlRawabi School for Girls was released in 2021 as a limited series but as the show went successful across the globe, Netflix is releasing season 2 of the show on February 15, 2024. Now it’s worth looking will the second season live up to the hype of the first season? or if will it fall flat in impressing us.
Stay tuned for the review of season 2.
