15/07/2026
by Shahrbanoo Sadat
Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, Afghanistan (2026)
Whenever one thinks of a movie set in Afghanistan, one’s imagination is transported to US tanks in a rocky desert, American troops conducting search operations in dusty villages inhabited by women completely covered in light blue burqas, children playing with deadly remnants of war, and old bearded men on the doorsteps of impoverished dwellings.
The opening film of the 2026 Berlin Film Festival, No Good Men, by Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat, is not that kind of movie. This is not only rare, but it comes as a complete surprise from the very first scene. The film depicts an almost ‘normal’ country where daily life goes on: women go to work, drop their children off at the kindergarten, chat with friends and get married, all amidst the military checkpoints set up to prevent Taliban suicide bombings.
This apparent ‘normality’ is denied not just by the presence of armed guards, but also by the casual everyday dialogues. These conversations portray a society where women are treated as third-rate citizens, and where there are, quite literally, “no good men”. Every single father, brother and son is taught from an early age that women are mere property – to be beaten, abused and expected to fall pregnant every couple of years. Through the eyes of these Afghan women, there are no exceptions. Even the most seemingly decent men – the good fathers, the gentle colleagues – ultimately share this regressive view of society and gender roles. Set in 2021, the film shows how women like Naru – the lead character of the movie, played by Sadat herself – who choose to fight an impossible battle for equality, are confronted daily by deep-seated scorn and prejudice.
What makes this small but profound film so remarkable is its entirely female perspective. Based on the director’s own life and filmed in Germany for obvious reasons (it is genuinely impressive how seamlessly the director recreated Kabul within a German landscape), the movie explores the ‘normalisation of horror’ of Afghan women’s lives. The backdrop is the fleeting window of opportunity that Afghanistan experienced just before US President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of troops in April 2021, while the Taliban were violently reclaiming the country and, eventually, Kabul.
Though marketed worldwide as a romantic comedy, No Good Men is hardly that. Yet it masterfully portrays an ongoing tragedy with wit and lightness. Ultimately, it leaves us with some hope: perhaps ‘love’ – the word Afghan women hear only in movies – might eventually win and maybe, out there, there is at least ‘one good man’. Unfortunately, this glimmer of hope is soured by the horrific reality of the gender apartheid that the Taliban are implementing in Afghanistan.
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