Breaking chains: 'Four Daughters' - a raw insight into radicalisation and family trauma

In essence, "Four Daughters" is a film within a film. Director Kaouther Ben Hani first encountered the story of Olfa Hamrouni and her two teenage daughters, Aya and Tayssir, in 2016. She then endeavoured to transform it into a fictional film, concurrently unravelling the unvoiced narratives of two other girls. The other teenage daughters, Rahma and Ghofrane, departed their families to join ISIS. Their mother, however, prefers the euphemism, claiming "wolves devoured them".

This Tunisian-French-German production film partially presents a chronicle of the Arab revolution, encapsulating the potency of radicalisation and inherited familial traumas. Olfa, one of the daughters in a female-centric household, assumed the position of the family's defender. As she expresses during the film, "I became a man to protect my mom". She took up weightlifting, fought with boys, and even cut her hair short to uphold this role. On her wedding night, Olfa beat her husband, and the resultant blood from his injured nose became an illusory symbol of her breached virginity.

Despite embodying formidable strength, Olfa could not shield her daughters from the patriarchal system or herself. She brought up her daughters stringently, safeguarding their honour and purity more assiduously than men might. Perhaps she genuinely believed that in doing so, she would make them resilient against the abuses and hostility of their father and, later, their stepfather.

In front of the cameras, Aya and Tayssir re-enact the scenes of daily violence and aggression, thus revisiting their traumatic pasts. Their mother remains steel-hearted, ridiculing her interaction with men and their treatment of her. Likely, this is her way of justifying her exertion of control, even towards her daughters. "She put us through everything she went through herself" - Aya delivers the concluding judgement.

Viewing "Four Daughters" might sometimes resemble witnessing live family therapy. The women each recollect their shared experiences differently, developing varying interpretations. Moreover, the cast members virtually stand for Rahma and Ghofrane, forging a sisterly bond with the younger daughters.

The anticipated strength of sisterhood among Olfa's four daughters seems to weaken when subjected to individual life paths. In Kaouther Ben Hani's film, the younger girls reflect on their past interests with disbelief. Aya recalls her eight-year-old self's interest in donning a veil and lecturing older girls on decency and laughs at the memory. However, the mood takes a turn when they remember their two other siblings, still firm in their adherence to Allah's teachings, even becoming radicalised.

Rahma and Ghofrane have been featured on international terrorist lists since 2015. Their spouses stand accused of orchestrating terrorist attacks in Tunisia. Over the years, Olfa resorted to the police, the prosecutor's office, and the media in desperate attempts to locate her daughters. But would their return signify joy for the five women? The apprehension thread with future uncertainties appears to overshadow the past perils they have already endured.

The Oscar-nominated documentary sadly encapsulates the characters' fate: yearning intertwined with confusion and anger. Among the younger generation, a rebellion emerges against oppression and religious dogmas, but also against loved ones. Olfa finds solace in believing that the cycle of violence is perpetual, but her youngest daughters refuse to subject themselves to destiny tamely. "This family destroyed you, but I won't let it destroy me!"- Tayssir assertively concludes. Change looms on the horizon, unstoppable in its arrival.