Wadjda is a girl who wants to ride a bicycle to race Abdullah, her best friend. In Saudi Arabia, girls and women are not allowed to ride bicycles or drive cars, but Abdullah let her use his bike to learn how to ride.  She wants to purchase a bicycle but finds that it is extremely expensive. Her school is hosting a Qur’an recital with a 1000 Riyal prize.  She studies the Qur’an in the hopes of earning prize money for her bicycle. During this time, her father wants to marry another woman and her mom wants to try to prevent that from happening.

I thought this was a really thought provoking film because it shows how people are not equal everywhere in the world; and how people are treated differently based on factors that they cannot control such as gender.  This film was directed by a woman named Haifaa Al-Mansour and is the first film shot in Saudi Arabia, a country without movie theatres.  In 2013, bikes were made legal for women provided they ride with a male family member, in a park or recreational area and with traditional Islam dress.  In my opinion, it seems unreasonable that women cannot ride a bicycle or drive a car because I believe all human beings should have equal rights.

I rated this film 9/10. The film was well written, and the story was reasonably easy to follow. It talked about human rights, which is a subject that is not talked about that much in children’s film. You could relate to the characters and the actors played their parts well. I recommend seeing this film.