Rating 3.5/5
‘Finding Ola’ is a Netflix web series that revolves around Ola, whose seemingly perfect life comes crashing down after a life-altering event. Then starts her challenging journey towards self-discovery.
Story
‘Finding Ola’ revolves around Ola Abdel Sabour, a woman who seems to have a perfect life and a loving family. This is until the facade of her perfect dream life comes crashing down when Hisham, her husband, asks for a divorce.
What follows is her tale of picking up the broken pieces while facing the challenges of managing her kids and making ends meet.
Despite these challenges, she comes back stronger and manages to start a successful new business, play an active role in her children’s lives, rediscover her old self and mend broken friendships.
After Hisham suffers a heart attack, he realizes his mistake and requests Ola to give their marriage another try. Despite being pressured by her in-laws and her mother, Ola realizes her worth and breaks free from her sad past.
Performances
Hend Sabry does a great job as Ola. Her way of expressing different emotions under different circumstances manages to keep the viewers hooked to the screen and relate to her character.
Sawsan Badr fits her role perfectly as Ola’s mother and successfully portrays it in a way that makes us both love and hates her character.
Nada Moussa gives a phenomenal performance as Ola’s best friend Nesrine. Her character is one of the most amazing characters in the show and it would be great to see her play the main lead in the future.
Hany Adel, Mahmoud Ellisy, Khaled El Nabawy and Dalia Shawky also do justice to their respective roles.
Positives
The concept of Breaking the fourth wall provides the story with a personalised touch. It creates a bond between viewers and Ola, the main character, and holds everyone’s attention till the end.
The characters are well developed and relatable. The show feels refreshing and empowering with its well-written storyline and direction. The show ends with a realistic ending that is easy to digest and feels real and believable.
The picturesque scenes of desert and amazing Arabic music enhance the overall viewing experience.
Negatives
Despite having a great storyline and talented actors, ‘Finding Ola’, at many places, overuses some concepts which do not seem to aid in advancing the plot or have any significance whatsoever.
The behaviour of everyone towards Ola seems very toxic and some lines are beyond infuriating, but these issues are not at all addressed and are accepted as completely normal.
Worth it?
If you are looking for a heartwarming web series with a realistic ending, Finding Ola is definitely worth watching. With its fast-paced story and well-built and lovable characters, it makes for a perfect and binge-watch-worthy series.
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