After building off of years of contempt, Muhammad heads to the southern United States to confront a preacher who condoned the shooting of a mosque in which his mother was murdered. The two meet and Muhammad is able to convince the pastor to meet under the pretext of offering an interview, which will allow him to finally confront the figure that provided a hateful commentary to his tragic youth. However, as the two get to know each other and share their past experiences, they begin to reanalyze the situation.
“Muhammad Mercy” is a film that treads perilous ground, touching on various taboo subjects such as racial discrimination, terrorism, and religious prosecution. Essentially, the short film sets a minefield for itself to trip over and possibly send the wrong message, regardless of the creator's intent. Thankfully, Argie Seth and crew approach the subject matter in a tactful way which does not act to isolate or discriminate its subjects, even in the face of two opposing ideologies facing off.
The approach to the subject matter acts as one of the strongest attributes of the production, specifically in its ability to harmonize two strong personalities with stark social/cultural differences. As a result, the film manages to humanize its subjects, despite both having undesirable traits and viewpoints (past and present). With the Western world facing some social distress due to inequality, the film appeals to the potential for people to evolve past closed minded opinions on both sides of the fence. Additionally, each character is not seen as intrinsically bad through their interactions, allowing them to make mistakes (as people do). Ultimately, this humanitarian viewpoint is important for closing boundaries between groups, giving an overall impression of positivism and hope in the production's messaging.
For the narrative to have succeeded, the performances from Aman Mafi as Muhammad and Carson Baily as the Pastor Pick needed to hit the mark. Thankfully, the two actors work well off of each other in the escalating situation, both in the uneasiness and eventual coming to terms with each other. Aman Mafi stands out more given the range of emotion he was tasked to display, and subsequently executes with a perceived understanding of his role. Additionally, Pier Boulagne-Glavin as the romantic interest to Muhammad brings a lot of feminine charm that instantly endures you to her character. Overall, the solid performances help the script to become fully realized, while still excelling in the face of sensitive subject matter.
The film's visual and audio presentation becomes serviceable to the narrative, lacking in any visual flashes to really give a defining or memorable impression. Adversely, the score manages to add a bit more depth to the production, with a playful mix of jazz and electronic that works well with each scene. Overall, the presentation falls a bit behind the narrative in execution, but does not really deter from the overall experience.
Director Argie Seth previously showcased his knack for narrative story telling in his first film “Stranger Danger“, which was included in our best of #SubmitYourFilm entries in 2019. Consequently, “Muhammad Mercy” carries many of the same strengths as his previous work, while showing him tackle more difficult subject matter with skill.
It is odd to perceive a film with some harrowing and depressing subject matter to be a “feel good film”, but Seth is able to accomplish the feat by taking a humanitarian stance on polarizing viewpoints. For this reason alone, “Muhammad Mercy” is worth while experience and a great starting point for future notable talent in Argie Seth.
