January 23, 2023 Alkhallat+ is the first of eight films that will be released as the result of a partnership between Netflix and the Saudi production and financing group Telfaz11. With only 22 episodes, the series managed to define a generation in Saudi Arabia when it was released on YouTube in 2019. The Telfaz11 production featured skits that made light of societal norms and customs, touching upon everything from cheating antics in classrooms to squabbles in boardrooms and on highways. The series amassed a whopping 1.5 billion views across all episodes and has endured as one of Saudi Arabia’s most highly regarded comedies. The Netflix film, Alkhallat+, has much of the same elements that made the original series a favourite. Released on the streaming platform on Friday, the film comprises four stories, which expand on Alkhallat’s skit format with side-splitting energy. The stories within Alkhallat+ are all immersed in social deception and trickery. The opening tale follows two thieves as they crash a wedding to rescue their co-conspirator. In the next, a chef working in an upscale restaurant puts its reputation on the line to save her parents’ marriage. The third story features a friend who returns to the morgue to conceal the deceased’s extramarital affair from his wife. In the final story, a mother searches for her husband as he tries to find their son in a nightclub. Though the film, as well as the show, touches upon social dynamics and idiosyncrasies unique to Saudi Arabia, Algarawi says the aim of Alkhallat is not to serve as social commentary, but rather simply to make people laugh. Before being released on Netflix, the film marked a red-carpet premiere during the Red Sea International Film Festival in December. Algarawi says he was touched by audience reactions, the laughter and the standing ovation, which to him meant they had managed to deliver and stay true to Alkhallat’s original spirit.
