TOWELHEAD review (5/10)

If you’re saying to yourself, “Hey, I’d like to watch a film that makes me really uncomfortable, but not a horror film”, then I’ve got a recommendation for you. Try TOWELHEAD, a very uneven movie from 2007 that has very much (and not surprisingly) flown under the radar. I’ve had the DVD of this movie for 15 years, and just watched it for the first time this week (June, 2024). And I have to admit, I almost didn’t care to finish it, but that’s not like me, so I soldiered on.

It’s the story of a 13 year old half-Lebanese girl named Jasira (played by 18 year old Summer Bishil, an actor who showed promise in this film, but whose IMDB shows little noteworthy work since this film). In the beginning of the film, her mother (hugely overacting Mario Bello) sends Jasira to live with her ultra-conservative dad after her own boyfriend (Chris Messina, appearing in only one scene) helps Jasira in shaving some areas mom’s boyfriend has no business shaving. Jasira’s dad, Rifat (played by an excellent Peter Macdissi) is a character that’s both horrifying and somehow understandable. He’s a Lebanese man who has come to America (and become a citizen) to carve out a better life for himself and his daughter. He loves her, but puts realistic expectations on her. She’s held up against a cultural standard that is out-dated, particularly in America. He is a racist (when he objects to Jasira’s choice of boyfriend, it isn’t…