With his film “Hot Water,” writer / director Ramzi Bashour brings a fresh perspective to the well-worn indie road trip formula, even if the highway he’s traveling feels pretty familiar. This is an offbeat and sensitive family drama about a mother and her troubled son as they drive from Indiana to California.
After getting kicked out of his Indiana high school, a rebellious American teen (Daniel Zolghadri) and his tightly wound Lebanese mom (Lubna Azabal) pack up and head west. Their relationship is strained but clearly loving, and it anchors the whole narrative. Mixing simmering anger, cultural disconnects, and genuine affection with just enough humor to keep it from getting heavy-handed, the film takes a classic road movie and gives it an immediate edge with a mother and son pairing. It isn’t something you see very often in this genre, and it’s a refreshing storytelling angle.
Azabal and Zolghadri are really well matched, delivering performances that feel lived-in and emotionally connected. The film has thoughtful things to say about education, reinvention, and the idea that sometimes moving forward means circling back to who you are and where you come from. The conversational dialogue flows almost seamlessly, and there’s plenty of thoughtful reflection on what it means to be “home.”
Unfortunately, the film never escapes the gravity and limitations of the indie road trip formula. The story is personal and sincere, but structurally it hits a lot of the same beats that we’ve all seen a hundred times over. There’s something endearing about it though, as the story is less about big revelations and more about quiet understanding. The common themes of love, acceptance, redemption and new beginnings all make an appearance, but in a way that feels more warm and thoughtful.
“Hot Water” is nothing particularly revolutionary, just a genuinely nice story that meets its modest ambitions.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 