Written And Directed by Mike Mosallam
Kal (quoting Superman): "Excuse me, Miss. I've got you."
Mo (quoting Lois Lane): "You've got me? Who's got you?"
It's Valentine's Day and I felt like watching something sweet and in terms of movies to pick, this was definitely a great choice to make. It's been on my list to watch for a few weeks now and today seemed the most apt of days to cave in and finally watch it.
Set in WeHo, or West Hollywood if you like, we've got our main protagonist, devout doctor and Muslim Mo (Haaz Sleiman) celebrating the last day of Ramadan with his family, only for his boyfriend Hassan (Patrick Sabongui) to break up with him, in order to marry a woman to appease his father.
A year later and Mo's friend, Sam (Amin El Gamal) tells his single friend to get back on the market and when Sam celebrates his birthday, the opportunity for Mo to seek love again comes in the form of aspiring actor and general cool guy, Kal (Michael Cassidy) and it's definitely a fun adventure these two love birds go on.
Recently while promoting It's A Sin Russell T. Davies talked more candidly on representation and having gay characters played by gay actors. In the context of Breaking Fast, Haaz Sleiman is openly gay while Michael Cassidy is straight. While I definitely agree with RTD's sentiments on the topic, there's no denying that both Sleiman and Cassidy have amazing chemistry, regardless of their own sexualities in real life.
We see Kal surprise and charm Mo by being able to speak Arabic, know his way around Ramadan customs and spending the majority of the month breaking fast with him almost every night. Then there's the fact that both men are massive fans of Christopher Reeve's Superman and this film earns even more great will, especially with both of them shamelessly quoting one particular scene twice in this film.
Of course while they do ultimately end up together and celebrate the last day of Ramadan with Mo's family, we still had moments of tension with Mo not being able to accept alternative views on his faith as this led to a heated confrontation with Sam where the latter related his own experiences as a stark contrast to Mo's own beliefs.
Kal's own turbulent relationship with his own family also came into play as well and while I definitely wish we had met his father and brother, his backstory definitely gave the right context to his love of acting, relationship with alcohol as well as giving Mo food for thought on how he's dealt with problems in his life. The subplot about Mo and his grandmother was also a nice poignant bit of writing here too.
Overall, I really loved this movie. Both Sleiman and Cassidy were fantastic to watch and while I found Sam a little OTT to begin with, he really is someone you want on your side and he had some genuinely funny moments like the one with his gossiping cousin at a funeral. Mo's mother was another delightful comic character that I would've liked to have seen more of but the focus was Mo and Kal and that was more than fine by me.
- The Superman references are even more on point when you remember that Michael Cassidy played Jimmy Olsen in Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice.
- This is actually a remake of a short film from 2015 that was also written and directed by Mike Mosallam.
- Standout music: Haaz Sleiman's version of Climb Ev'ry Mountain.
- Chronology: I'm gonna assume 2020 tbh.
Breaking Fast is a joyous, lovely film with two wonderfully delightful protagonists and a believable love story. I don't know if this will generate any kind of follow up but if it does, I would absolutely watch it in a heartbeat. Haaz Sleiman and Michael Cassidy are both sublime.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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