Caramel (PG)

5:35pm Thursday 15th May 2008

Directed, written by and starring Nadine Lakabi, Caramel is a suitably sweet melodrama revolving around a Beirut beauty salon called Si Belle.

The place provides a focal point for the gossiping of the local women as they search for love and fulfilment. Sexy proprietor Layale (Lakabi) is involved in an affair with a married man who will never leave his wife.

Fearful of losing her lover, she is blind to the romantic overtures of a shy police officer (Adel Karam), who could be Mr Right. Shiite co-worker Nisrine (Yasmine Al Masri) nervously anticipates her impending nuptials but she must undergo an operation to restore her virginity before the wedding night. Meanwhile, fellow co-worker Rima (Joanna Moukarzel) wrestles with a forbidden attraction to a client, and elderly neighbour Aunt Rose (Siham Haddad) enjoys a late-blooming romance.

However, lasting happiness would means abandoning her sister.