Netflix’s Arabic Drama Jinn Is a Supernatural Exploration of Teen Life
Jinn is a decent series that should scratch that particular itch for fans of Sabrina and Riverdale.
Photo Courtesy of Netflix
“I can’t believe we have to go to school after someone just died,” a kid in Jinn says at one point, which is both the most teen drama thing that’s ever been said and one of the least interesting aspects of Netflix’s first Arabic-language original series.
The five-episode season—from creators Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya (who also directs most of the series), Rajeev Dassani, and Elan Dassani—was shot on location in Jordan, and it looks great when using that to its advantage. Some stunning aerial photography of cliffs and ruins supplements the standard classrooms, staircase conversations, family homes and nondescript in-betweens that genre fans expect. And thanks to a field trip to Petra—that of course goes horribly wrong—the story of teens getting entangled in a conflict between spirits with ulterior motives can often look far more novel than its narrative actually is.
Like a schlocky version of Picnic at Hanging Rock, a mysterious accident befalls a dickish bully, and the fallout seriously impacts the rest of the school. But were jinn involved (spirits that, rather than angels or devils, can be every shade between good and evil), or was it just an everyday horror? This tragedy amplifies the tensions already in place among the cliques—everyone’s pettier, pushier, and definitely hornier—while further divides open between friend groups as two classmates both find strange new companions.
Nerdy, bullied Yassin (Sultan Alkhail, who has serious, lanky Bill Skarsgård vibes) meets Vera (Aysha Shahaltough), while cool girl Mira (Salma Malhas, the most convincing cast member) runs into a hot magical creature of her own after hearing strange whispery voices like she was carrying the One Ring on a doomed quest. It’s easy to appreciate the realistic casting though, whether it’s Mira’s BFF Layla (Ban Halaweh), Layla’s superstitious cousin Hassan (Zaid Zoubi), or one of the bully’s lackeys. These are high schoolers that look, act, and talk like drama-drenched teens.
That helps to sell the Twilight of it all, as the series already suffers from the tonal whiplash of going back and forth between relationship talk and Hassan’s shoehorned mythological exposition. There’s still a bit more to it than just Mira hooking up with a supernatural hottie, but, yes, that’s definitely part of it. Played by Hamzeh Okab in all his jaw-flexing, floppy-haired hearthrobbiness, the hottie in question, Kerasquioxian (Keras for short), can disappear at will, as well as do a little Force-choke that definitely isn’t used for the thirsty purposes to which fan fiction will soon apply it. In fact, it’s often pretty funny because of how abrupt and out of left field that power is every time it comes up.