We meet 4 friends hanging out. Jason, still traumatized by the loss of both of his parents in a car bombing; Louis , devastated over his recent breakup with his girlfriend; the guitar-strumming Elvis, who works for his drug-dealing father; and Rami, whose family has recently found out that he’s gay. Jason is throwing this party and here he also invites his internet girlfriend Natalie who ends up being as free spirited as the rest of the gang. Rami's boyfriend is Ziad, son of a wealthy and powerful family. When Ziad shows up in blood having been attacked by his cousins, this trio of 6 are forced to face the harsh realities of their surroundings. The six decide to leave the city and make their own commune somewhere in the woods and they go there mostly to save Ziad and Rami's love. Natalie decides to marry the three straight guys and the gay couple can finally breathe a sigh of relief. But Ziad's family is still looking for him and Rami because their homosexuality has brought shame to the family. Their taboo allegiance to one another will result in tragedy and heartache, but their love and compassion for each other will change their lives and the lives of those around them forever.
The film is fairly typical in its depiction of young people coping with myriad personal and societal issues. The story deals with post civil-war idealism and angry youth who are thirsty for social and political change. The film, somewhere, is about discrimination against homosexuals and about systems, which drive a community of perfectly normal people, to live the life of abnormality. It is about inducing fear and guilt in the minds and souls of thousands of children who are not born heterosexuals. Sadly the makers fail to establish a compelling narrative or consistent tone, with the film awkwardly lurching from comedic to melodramatic to even musical elements. The characters are too schematically rendered to make us care much about them. I wish, there was more focus around the couple on how they met and where the relationship is progressing. We just did not get enough time to connect with the characters here. If I try to objectively review this film, I can see the noble intentions that need to be lauded to bring to the world a subject like this, but it does feel like a college project put together by a group of friends who wanted to put something loving out into the world, in the best and worst ways. It might have been something of a ground breaking attempt when it came out but definitely this film has not aged well and watching it today made it seem more clumsy than trying to make a point. It is an interesting watch from a historical point of view that a film like this came out of Middle East when it did. Kudos for that, but, sadly the film is otherwise a little all over the place with its inconsistent tonality. The filmmaker certainly deserves credit for having the courage to take on his controversial themes. But for all its daring, Out Loud is ultimately too muted to make much of an impact. (4/10)
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