Jewish women of their city , they ’ re reminded in small ways of their outsider status . Layla rebuffs a suitor by reminding him that his mother ’ s desire is for him to find a nice Jewish girl , while Salma storms out of her day job in a restaurant kitchen after refusing to stop speaking Arabic with her co-workers - “ It puts the he ’ s in pain at the fact that his religion forces him to treat his daughter in such a manner . The secular Muslim Layla meanwhile discovers that the Muslim men who call themselves liberals in her presence are still wedded to tradition , and are unwilling to introduce such a staunchly independent woman to their families .
Nour is the odd one out , and the weakest of the trio in terms of drama . Her arc is a lot more free of nuance , as her hypocritical religious fiance predictably rapes her when she begins to display signs that marriage may not be for her , at least not to him . At the same time , hers is the most tragic arc of the trio , as she finds herself betrayed and mathe seemingly innocuous images presented here are so revolutionary in Islamic culture as to provoke a death warrant on the filmmaker who fashioned them .
diners off their food ,” she ’ s told . Yet Layla and Salma are even more distanced from their own cultures . When the latter ’ s sexual preference is discovered at a dinner party , her parents attempt to keep her under house arrest until she agrees to marry a man of their choosing . As Salma ’ s father berates her , tears cloud his eyes , and the suggestion is that