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Aala Nesbet Moshahda proves to be the dark horse of Ramadan this year: The story revolves around Shaimaa (Salma Abudeif), a technical institute student, who comes from a lower-middle-class family with financial and social constraints. Her younger sister, Nesma (Laila Zaher), is a high school student who is obsessed with TikTok and dreams of becoming rich and famous. When Nesma convinces Shaimaa to appear in one of her videos, she becomes a “trend” everywhere and an overnight sensation — but she eventually discovers the other (uglier) side of fame.

Their struggle is endless: Their mother, Hamdia (Entesar), is on a spiral of stress as she worries about her unemployed husband, Fathi (Mohamed Mahmoud). Meanwhile, their eldest sister, Amal (Farah Youssef), is suffering in her marriage: Her manipulative, irresponsible, and abusive husband, Ali (Islam Ibrahim) forces her to work and be the breadwinner for him, her son, and her family.

The performances exceeded our expectations: Despite the forced dialect, which can be off putting, we enjoyed watching Abudeif’s performance which showed great development, particularly in emotional situations. What takes the cake is Entesar’s truthful characterization of Hamdia — there are moments where we sympathize with her plight and others where she pulls our last nerve. We feel the same way about her brother, Bondoq (Ahmed Fahim). We couldn’t take our eyes off of Farah Youssef as she sincerely and seamlessly extended her emotions to the screen and never overdid her performance.

A cleverly told true story. The creators of the short series succeeded in devising a drama that incorporates some elements from reality, making it an attractive dramatic watch. They were able to sustain the audience’s attention and pique their curiosity, keeping viewers and critics content — at least so far. More importantly, the 16-episode series has also gone to show the impact shorter Ramadan dramas have: They now have a large viewership that marks a paradigm shift from the more traditional, longer Ramadan productions.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can watch Aala Nesbet Moshahda on Shahid or catch the trailer here (watch, runtime 1:31).

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