Perfect Strangers
Perfect Strangers (أصحاب… ولا أعزّ)is directed by Wissam Smayra and is the first Arabic-language Netflix original film that was created entirely by MENA/SWANA production companies. It’s a remake of the Italian comedy/drama Perfetti Sconosciuti (2016). The film starts off relatively lighthearted but gets increasingly intense as the party goes on.
The whole film takes place over the course of a few hours on the night of a lunar eclipse. May (Nadine Labaki) and Waleed (Georges Khabbaz) are hosting a dinner party for a few of their close friends at their large home in suburban Beirut. Early on in the evening, it’s brought up that another couple, Simi and Nour, are not present because Nour recently found out that Simi was having an affair with a younger woman. She discovered the affair by going through Simi’s phone. Debate ensues about whether or not everyone’s relationships would hold up were they to know everything that was on their partner’s phone. Eventually, May proposes a game: everyone will place their phones on the table and any call, email, message, photo, etc. that anyone receives during dinner will be shared with the rest of the group. After some initial reluctance, everyone agrees to participate and disaster ensues until the eclipse passes.
Perfect Strangers is nearly entirely in Arabic. As of February 2022, there are no English subtitles available but there are colloquial Arabic subtitles so you can read exactly what’s being said! We’ve put together a character glossary and translated some key sentences to guide you through. Please note that the sentences do spoil some of the secrets that will be revealed throughout the movie.
If you live outside the MENA/SWANA region (or are using a VPN) you may need to change your Netflix account language to Arabic in order to find Perfect Strangers.
Perfect Strangers includes strong language and mentions of sex
Rabi3/Beebo and his girlfriend, Rasha, were both invited to dinner but Rabi3 arrives alone, saying that Rasha has a fever and isn’t feeling well. The rest of the group has never met Rasha and it’s implied that Rabi3 has never really been in a serious relationship.
May and Waleed/Will are hosting the dinner party. May is a psychologist and Waleed is a doctor. The couple has an 18-year old daughter, Sophie (Sinead Chaaya), and are often at-odds in their parenting styles. May is stricter with Sophie, while Waleed is gentler and gives her more room to make her own decisions.
Ziad (Adel Karam) and Jenna (Diamand Abou Abboud) are newly married and have no children together. This is the first time Jenna is meeting Ziad’s childhood friends. She confesses she was nervous about meeting them but feels at ease with them.
Miriam (Mona Zaki) and Shereef (Eyad Nasser) have been married for 15 years and have two young children. Shereef’s mother has been staying with them to help care for the children and is driving Miriam crazy. Shereef’s mother and Miriam are both from Egypt and speak in the Egyptian dialect.
Key sentences / جمل مهم
Translations edited by Saeed Alaktaa
Timestamps reflect the time that is left, not how much has passed in the movie
أصحاب… ولا أعزّ
No dearer friends
The English title of the movie, Perfect Strangers, is a direct translation of the Italian version
1:36:35
ماني حمارة. عم بتنامي معه؟
I’m not an idiot. Are you sleeping with him?
Literal translation: I’m not a donkey
1:35:30
وقفت "البيلدور"
I stopped [taking] the pill
Jenna uses the French word for pill here, rather than the Arabic دواء
1:30:03
بقالي 25 سنة أعرفه عمري ما شفته مع واحدة عدلة, كلها شباشب
In the 25 years that I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him with someone deserving, they’re all replaceable
Literal translation of كلها شباشب: they’re all slippers
1:27:59
الجسوف
The eclipse
1:24:08
هيدي اول مرة منعمل قعدة بلا سيمي و نور
This is the first time we had a gathering without Simi and Nour
[The group goes on to debate whether or not the men knew that Simi was having an affair with a 22-year old, whether they should have told Nour if they knew, and whether Nour was at fault for going through Simi’s phone]
1:20:18
انه هيدا المصيبة كل حياتنا فيه. بحط شرت ولا زوج بيضلوا مع بعضن إذا بفتشوا في تيليفونات بعض
This [phone] is the disaster - that our whole lives are on it. I’d bet that no couple would stay together if they went through each other’s phones
1:17:22
ما عندي شي خبيه يعني
I don’t have anything to hide
1:10:27
بس أنه قصة هيدي إنه الحياة ما بتظبط بلا أولاد مش كتير فايتة براسي يعني
It’s just this narrative that life isn’t complete without kids, I don’t get it
1:03:18
ما شي بدي أعمل عملية صدري
Nothing, I’m getting breast surgery
[Shereef asks why Waleed doesn’t do the surgery since he’s a doctor. Waleed says it’s because May’s father wants the best for her and thinks she needs to go to a famous surgeon in Germany and that Dr. Sarkis who works in the public system isn’t good enough]
59:05
طب انت متخيل لو الصور دي جاب قدامكم مريم هتعمل ايه؟ أنت سمعتها هتاخد العيال وترجع مصر والعيلة هتضيع
Okay, imagine if the photos come in front of all of you - what’s Miriam going to do? You heard her, she’ll take the kids, go back to Egypt, and my family will be over
57:45
بيروح لطبيب نفسي
He’s been going to a psychologist
Rabi3 is using a phone app that prompts him to exercise periodically over the course of the day in order to lose weight:
53:05
طب حتى لو أنت ونايم بليل ودقت يعني بتقوم؟
So even if you’re sleeping and it dings, you get up?
52:55
طب شو إلا طعمة, ساعتها تضحك ع التطبيق وبتضحك ع حالك, ما بتعطي نتيجة
If you make a fool of the app, you’re making a fool of yourself - it won’t be effective
Literal translation of ما بتعطي نتيجة: it won’t bring results
51:11
إذا شي نهار بطلنا مع بعض, ما بندم إني ما جربت
If someday we’re not together, I won’t regret that I didn’t try
50:51
كل مرة منتخانق بتقلب قصة غرور أنا وياكي ومنصير, بدنا نتناطح مين بدو يطلع راسه بيناتنا
Every time we fight, it turns into a battle of egos, you and I. It becomes a struggle to see who will come out on top
50:32
أنا صراحة خيفان كفي متل ما نحنا
Honestly, I’m worried if we continue the way we’ve been going
46:32
لا بدا لا بدا معليه بدا! لأنه هول التليفونات هول, هول كسرولنا حياتنا هول دمرولنا حياتنا, ونحنا القبلانين! نحنا اللي أصلاً قبلنا إنه نفوتن ع حياتنا وصار كل ما واحد منا بدو يعطس كل الكوكب بدو يعرف إنه نحنا عطسنا
I don’t want to, I don’t want to, I won’t [calm down]! Because these phones these, these are ruining our lives! These destroy our lives, and we allow it! We’re the ones who initially allowed it, who opened our lives and if one of us sneezes, the whole world has to know that we sneezed!
44:15
إنت بتخططي ترمي أمي برة البيت؟
Are you planning to kick my mother out of the house?
39:19
روميو معمي فيها. بتنام معه من وقت لوقت وكلنا منعرف إنها عم تضهر مع حدا, وهو راكض وراها متل الكلب
Romeo is blinded by her. She sleeps with him from time to time but we all know she has someone back home, and [Romeo] keeps running back to her like a dog
35:58
جيلو قالي إذا بنام عنده الليلة. أهله مسافرين
Jeelo asked me if I want to sleep over tonight. His family’s on vacation
31:19
قلتلي إنك ساخن وقاعد بالفرشة. طلعت عم تتعشى مع أصحبك؟
You told me you had a fever and were in bed. You went out to dinner with your friends?!
31:06
لك عن جد خرا عليك مش عارف شو بدك. بدك ياني أو لا؟
Actually, fuck you. I don’t know what you want. Do you want me or not?
25:12
أنت عارف أنت بقالك قد إيه ملمتنيش؟ سنة! مش عارفة قد, يمكن أكتر. ليه؟ ليه؟ سايبني أدبل جنبك ليه وأنت عايش حياتك برا؟ رد عليا! أه يعني أنا فعلاً كنت بشوفه وهو لازق وشه في التليفون بس… كنت بضحك وأفتكر إن أنت خلاص يعني ده تمامك ده آخرك, ما فيش حاجة. بس أنا مكنتش متخيلة إن اللي وخدك مني واحد مش واحدة! أنا كنت فكرة إن العيب فيا أنا, طلعت فيك أنت
Do you know how long you’ve gone without touching me? A year! I don’t know, maybe more. Why? Why? You leave me to whither beside you while you’re out there living another life? Answer me! I’d watch him and his face is glued to his phone but…I was laughing and thinking that you were done, like you’re good, that’s it for you, you don’t need it. But I never imagined that someone would take you from me and that someone would be a man, not a woman! I thought the fault was mine, turns out it was you!
22:33
مرقلي شي دفعة ولو
Pay me what you owe
Literal translation of مرق: gravy
22:15
مين اللي عجبها الحلق؟
Who liked the earrings?
21:09
زيحين يعني حبلى لا؟
Two lines means pregnant, no?
17:51
الأستاذ بيسألك لابسة لباس داخلي ولا لا
The gentleman is asking whether or not you’re wearing underwear
15:20
يوم الحادثة أنا اللي كنت سايقة. كنت سكرانة وصممت أسوق
The day of the accident, I was driving. I was drunk and I insisted that I drive
[She goes on the say that her husband decided to take the fall for it and that now he acts like she forever owes him for this sacrifice. If she could go back to that moment, she’d take responsibility for it. She’s been dying inside since that moment and they never talk about it]
