The Cage (القفص) is a romantic comedy series from Kuwait, released on Netflix globally on 11th October. It is produced by Abdullah Boushahri and directed by Jasem Almuhanna. This series marks the first Netflix series from Kuwait that promises to deliver a fresh perspective, exciting twists and turns and some beloved, familiar faces.
It will follow the highs and lows of a couple’s marital life in 8 episodes, with a runtime of about 35-40 minutes and aims to offer a fresh take on how marital challenges are portrayed in Arab drama.
The cast of the series includes Khaled Ameen, Hussain Almahdi, Rawan Mahdi, Lamya Tareq, Shabnam Khan, Hessa Alnabhan, Shawq, Mai Albalushi, Ahmed Mossaed and Zaina Mahdi.
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-The Cage Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
Khaled Ameen plays a marriage counsellor named Dr Nasser, who is working with a married couple, played by Hussain AlMahdi as Zaid & Rawan Mahdi as Rawan, to address their differences and better understand each other’s perspective to save their marriage. Following the couple and the evolution of their relationship across the last decades.
While the counsellor is helping them reconnect, he’s facing struggles in his personal life too. The issues that he is trying to solve with his patients are juxtaposed parallel to his own life issues. He may be the best at his job, listening and pointing out the things that the couples can’t see clearly, however, is he the same in his own life?
When a new couple sitting in Dr Nasser’s office, argues over fried eggs, their marriage counsellor asks them to revisit the time when they met, in the era of cassette tapes and pagers. Zaid and Rawan recall how their relationship blossomed from a car accident leading to stolen moments on their family’s landlines, where they planned their future.
Over the course of the whole series, we revisit all the significant moments in Zaid and Rawan’s life from proposal to marriage and kids. Through that, we get to know what made both of them so bitter towards each other and if is there a middle ground in their turbulent bickering life.
Along with their retro love story, in the present time, Dr Nasser seems to be living a love story of his own, dealing with somewhat similar issues with his ‘friend for life’. The series starts off with Dr Nasser breaking the fourth wall and addressing the camera/audience, as he gets ready for his clients. But this element is only used in the first episode and the last, and nowhere else.
Once the character has addressed the viewers, it is likely to keep using it throughout or the creators shouldn’t have used it at all. It would have been interesting to know the inner thoughts of the Doctor, as he listened to his patients go on and on and would have added a needed humour element.
Similarly, when Zaid and Rawan are telling their side of the story, you get to see visually – how they perceive their partners. Rawan appears as a loud, brat in Zaid’s perspective and he appears as an orthodox and conservative religious man. This gives us much insight into the character and is funny, nonetheless. But it isn’t used ever again in the series, while you expect it to come.
Summing Up: The Cage
The Cage (القفص) has a fairly creative concept that could have been brought to the screen in a very humorous manner. But whether the creators got lazy or just forgot about continuity, it turns out to be an underwhelming series, which might even make the viewers turn it off, after hearing the couple fighting continuously.
At first, you think okay, Zaid and Rawan are clearing their differences initially but when they are still screaming at each other in the last few episodes, it just puts you off. It is neither funny nor adds anything more to the story. In my opinion, they are just not it, if I were their counsellor, I would have advised them to break it off.
In Dr Nasser’s case as well, he acts like a friend asking them about their love story, rather than being a professional. Also, we don’t get to know what’s his deal with Lamiaa really is until the end, which should have been explored in more detail and in a clear manner.
Overall, it is an okayish series if you enjoy Arabic dramas. The series tip-toes on the fence about either being good or absolutely obnoxious. If their idea of working on a bad marriage is to remember the good times and forget all the bad, then they have got it all wrong.
The Cage is currently streaming on Netflix.
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