Lucien Bourjeily’s award-winning Lebanese drama-comedy movie, Heaven Without People, recently hit Netflix for the first time since its release in 2017.
Just one day after reaching the giant streaming service, the Lebanese movie took a spot on the list of top movies and series being watched in Lebanon.
Bourjeily, the writer and director of the film, was excited to see his movie quickly rising to the top of the popular streaming platform, after a tour in international film festivals.
Heaven Without People (original name: “غداء العيد,” or Festive Lunch) officially released on Netflix on Friday, May 15th.
By the end of the next day, it was already the fourth most-watched movie on Netflix in Lebanon, preceded only by The Wrong Missy, Inception, and Fifty Shades Freed.
The movie continued to climb the ranks in the 24 hours that followed when it beat Fifty Shades Freed to become the third most-watched movie on the platform in the country. It now ranks 2nd on Netflix in just a matter of a couple of days.
At the time of writing, Heaven Without People is also the 7th of the top 10 movies and shows being watched on Netflix in Lebanon.
The Lebanese movie’s swift domination of Netflix’s most-watched list is not surprising; Heaven Without People is a very successful movie that was nominated for 21 awards, of which it won 7.
Heaven Without People tells the story of Lebanese family members who gather for Easter for the first time in two years.
I’m watching ‘Heaven without people’ by @lucienbourjeily and I very rarely watch anything Lebanese.. but one hour into this and I completely forgot I’m watching a Lebanese ‘production’.. Everything is well-acted and not fake or fabricated. Well done. أول فيلم لبناني مش بفيلا
— Ahmad Aboud (@DevsAdvocate) May 16, 2020
After some drama unfolds, “simmering tensions are ignited, leading to chaos.”
The family gathers after Josephine, its matriarch who decides to assemble the scattered members, some of whom have underlying tensions toward one another.
The movie stars Samira Sarkis, Jenny Gebara, Farah Shaer, Nadim Abou Samra, and several other talents.
Among the awards that Lucien Bourjeily’s debut feature-length film won are the Special Jury Prize Muhr Feature Award and the Arabian Sights Jury Best Film Award.
You can watch Heaven Without People, available now on Netflix.
