How Long Is “Caramel”?

A Beirut beauty salon serves as a microcosm of modern society in director Nadine Labaki's look at liberated conversation in a conflicted society. Over the course of their day it becomes readily apparent that women are truly the same everywhere, regardless of the society they live in. While single Layale struggles with her growing attraction to a married man, Muslim bride-to-be Nisrine fears that her husband will find out that she has already lost her virginity, and Rima wages a futile war against her lesbian instincts. As with many women who frequent the salon, Jamale does everything within her power to reverse the visible effects of aging. As Rose laments the fact that she has sacrificed her own happiness in order to care for her older sister, the intimate conversations shared over the course of a typical day reveal just how universal the lives, loves, and concerns of contemporary women truly are.