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Hold Me (If You Want)

Lebanon 2025. A bride spirals into madness, seeking love and sanity in a world that lost both.

synopsis

Dalia and Eli, both in their thirties, have built a safe bubble amid Beirut’s economic and social tensions as they plan their wedding. Days before the ceremony, Dalia begins experiencing hallucinations, feeling like a stranger in her own home. Sleep-deprived, she wonders into the mountains, where a nun from a nearby psychiatric hospital takes her in. There, Dalia reconnects with reality but grows attached to this fractured world. Incidentally, che is obsessing over Paul, a recovering addict who avoids contact. When the hospital announces a “resocialisation” release, Paul is set free while Dalia is not. She escapes to find him. Their brief, intense time together awakens his addictive side, and they start a passionate relationship. But Eli eventually tracks them down and Paul flees. Dalia and Eli search nighttime Beirut for him, finding him volatile, and bring him back home. While the psychiatric ward is closed, Paul must stay with them. During a fragile dinner, grief turns to laughter, and all three realise that, though their future is uncertain, they have profoundly touched each other.

Director’statement

Hold Me (If You Want) follows a woman who has become a stranger to herself in a world of hyper-normality she has created despite the chaos outside. After a psychotic episode reveals her inner turmoil, she can no longer function within this false sense of security. Mental health in Lebanon is a silent epidemic. People adapt to a collapsing world, always bracing for the next crisis. Resilience is survival – a necessity, not a choice. The August 4th tragedy forced long-avoided conversations. Like many, I was overwhelmed, unsure how to find help. We were collectively suffering, and for the first time, we looked inward. Dissociation can consume us until we no longer recognise ourselves. These forces shape our relationships with our bodies, minds, and partners. How has this shaped us, inside and out? How do we stay connected to our dreams, hearts, and sexual desires when life itself is constantly threatened? How do we stay sane in a world gone mad?

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