Lebanese Film ‘Caramel’ Coats Women’s Relationships With Truth

CHICAGO – In the social palette that makes up relationships for adult women, the main brushstrokes involve trust, unity and a passion for friendships. Of course, it doesn’t hurt if they can meet in their favorite beauty parlor. The film “Caramel” follows the lives of five women in Beirut, Lebanon as they experience aging, commitment, lifestyle choices and bikini waxing.

The title “Caramel” refers to the salon technique for removing hair using the sticky confectionary. In a sort of Lebanese “Steel Magnolias” (but without the schmaltz), writer and director Nadine Labaki explores the generational gamut regarding women’s concerns in the Middle Eastern city.

Labaki herself portrays Layale: a salon caramel expert and the “other woman” in a relationship that’s sapping her resolve. Rima (Joanna Moukarzel) – the manager of the salon – is exploring her own alternate lifestyle choices.