It’s World War One and a young Bedouin boy helps guide a mysterious British officer to a rendezvous in the Hijaz desert. Their plans swiftly unravel.

The film pays critical homage to David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia, but ultimately this is about a boy finding his way in an adult world, rather than an intrusive Westerner indulging in Orientalism.

“The Oxford-born, Jordanian-bred film-maker Naji Abu Nowar tells an intimate story of betrayal and survival in a wide-open space, while rewriting an especially contentious chapter of movie history. ” Mike McCahill, The Guardian.

“Both a classically taut ‘50s western and an Arabic coming-of-age drama, “Theeb” boasts emotionally resonant location cinematography from Wolfgang Thaler and a desert sound design — camels, wind, the echoed yells of bad men, a haunted score, even silence — that’s straight out of any dangerously curious boy’s most breathless nightmare.” Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times.