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Happy Birthday. Two words every child loves to hear. It’s the one day they expect the world to bend in their favor – sweet treats, new clothes, friends at home, and a party scaled to their parents’ means. In Sarah Goher’s extraordinary debut feature, Happy Birthday, however, young Toha isn’t prepping for her special day. She’s working hard to organize one for her employer’s nine-year-old daughter, Nella.
Set in Egypt, Happy Birthday introduces us to Toha, an underage maid to a wealthy family. The lady of the house, Laila, finds her daughter’s birthday clashing with a house move. Initially hesitant, Laila finally agrees, nudged by Nella’s excitement and Toha’s gentle persistence, to host a grand celebration. At the party that evening, Nella looks forward to seeing her estranged father. Toha, who doesn’t know her birthday, longs to blow out a candle and make an unreal wish she believes must come true.
In this simple yet stark examination of class disparity, Goher crafts a tale that resonates universally. Set over a single day, the film follows Toha’s aching heart as it clings to the hope of a small joy. Born into a family of fishermen, her existence is anything but idyllic. There’s love in her world, but tenderness is scarce.
It would be easy to view Toha as someone desperate to vault the class fence. But Goher doesn’t spin a story of ambition. This is a child’s inner world where imagination meets inequality. When Laila takes Toha on a shopping trip for the party, subtle tensions rise. Laila eyes a sexy party dress, while Toha suggests a sparkling abaya, familiar and cherished in her community. When a store refuses to let Toha try on clothes, Laila threatens legal action, only to be shown the mirror of her own hypocrisy. This stretch, oddly tender, becomes one of the film’s most humanizing turns. Does Laila truly see Toha as family? Likely not. But we wish she did – for Toha’s sake.
As preparations intensify, Toha is summoned home unexpectedly. What unfolds is a humbling portrait of familial hardship. Her bond with her fisherwoman mother begins with tension but gradually reveals deep, unspoken love. In one particularly wrenching moment, Toha confronts her younger sister, who has taken the dress she hoped to wear to the party. The heartbreak is real, so is the empathy. The performances by the children recall the emotional rawness of Carla Simón’s marvelous Summer 1993.
At the heart of Happy Birthday is Doha Ramadan, whose portrayal of Toha is haunting and unforgettable. Despite seasoned actors Nelly Karim and Hanan Motawie delivering vulnerable acts in rather complex characters, the children never let them eat that cake with astonishing confidence and screen presence. Notably enough, Goher (alongside co-writer Mohamed Diab) resists wrapping the film in a mystical, childish mood. The issues are stark, the emotions unflinching.
Every character, no matter how peripheral, carries nuance. Nella, for instance, briefly feels hurt when she sees Toha wearing one of her dresses. Her feelings are valid, yet, like any guileless child, she moves on. Goher doesn’t romanticize poverty or vilify wealth, even when she easily could have. Her characters are prisoners of their circumstances. Whether it’s Toha’s rickshaw-driving friend or Laila’s suave husband, everyone has a story to tell.
In the film’s final moments, Toha literally jumps a fence to reach her dream. But Happy Birthday reminds us that the real fences of class, opportunity, and social hierarchy are far harder to scale. The film’s devastatingly poignant climax will move you to tears and force you to rethink the very idea of celebration. Behind a child’s innocent wish lies a barren landscape of unspoken despair, where dreams die quietly, unnoticed by a world blinded by privilege, comfort, and power.
Screened at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, Happy Birthday, by a huge margin, is the edition’s finest film.
Rating: ★★★★★
