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“Maya & Samar” Film Details
- Director(s): Anita Doron
- Writer(s): Tamara Faith Berger
- Runtime: 1 Hour(s) and 35 Minutes
- Public Release Date (Digital): September 4, 2026
- Genre(s): Drama, Romance, Young Adult, LGBT+
- Content Rating: Rated NC-17
- Primary Language: English | Non-English (Greek) | Non-English (Dari)
- Images © of / Courtesy Of Quiver Distribution
Movie Summary
Maya is an international journalist with a home base in Toronto who focuses on sex. Whether it is sex workers, sex crimes, or simply pleasure, that is her news beat. But while visiting a college friend in Greece, she comes across Samar. They meet at a rave, and Maya is enchanted. Then, upon learning Samar is an Afghan sex worker via stripping? She isn’t just physically stimulated but mentally as well.
However, this isn’t just another instance of the sexually liberal Maya trying to get a story and get off as well. She gets invested, emotionally, in her subject. This leads to a relationship where Maya finds herself having to navigate a culture beyond her own and gaining an understanding of not only what it is like to be a refugee in Greece, but also a queer Afghan woman making ends meet in a way most see as contradictory to her culture.
Cast and Characters
Maya (Nicolette Pearse)
- Character Summary: Maya is a journalist known for her work on the topic of sex. Her most recent article on a sex crime was a major hit but, rather than work on an immediate follow-up, initially she was going to spend time with a college friend in Greece. But, with being married to her work, and always open for a mistress, she ends up finding a story more than finding time to spend with her friend.
Samar (Amanda Babaei Vieira)
- Character Summary: An Afghan woman from Kabul, between the rise of the Taliban and being queer, Samar knew she would never find peace in Afghanistan, so she made the journey to Greece. Unfortunately, due to her immigration status and lack of opportunities, while safer in Greece, she is only able to focus on surviving rather than thriving.
Review and Commentary
Highlight(s)
A Reminder Of How Complicated the Journalist’s Ethics Code Is [82/100]
The journalist’s ethics code focuses on seeking truth and reporting it, minimizing harm, acting independently, and being accountable and transparent. On paper, that is easy if you take a cold, almost scientific approach to a subject. However, when dealing with human beings, that is far harder.
Samar, for example, is a woman who isn’t just intriguing, but also attractive to Maya, and there could be something mutual there. Think of it this way: when you’re dating someone you are really into, you want to know their story, what led them to becoming part of your life, and that is where Maya is.
But that is why the ethics code exists because, when you ingrain yourself in someone’s life, it is hard not to romanticize them and believe their troubles just need eyes on them to be resolved. All the while ignoring the cultural aspect of their problem.
Samar is a queer woman from Afghanistan, a conservative country. Maya is from Toronto, and seemingly from a liberal background. The solutions available for Maya’s problems can’t be implemented to solve Samar’s. Samar is not White-passing; she has an accent; she reads as someone not from here. And throughout the movie, you can see that, as talented a writer Maya might be, she has blind spots. The kind that will make it so that, as she either deepens her exploration of sex or ventures into other beats, she’ll have much room to grow and reason to be careful.
On The Fence
The Sex Scenes [73/100]
I would submit that, when it comes to sex, Maya and Samar cares more about the intimacy of sex, even the playfulness which can be found in it, over what is tantalizing. This is a good thing. However, that doesn’t mean the film uses sex in a way to convey that point well.
To me, this isn’t like Gaspar Noé’s Love or Blue Is the Warmest Colour, in terms of giving you intense, sometimes uncomfortable-to-watch sex scenes, where you feel like some kind of creepy voyeur. Yet, I wouldn’t say it is like lesbian porn clearly made for men either. It’s somewhere in between being unnecessary, especially given how long the scenes are, but also a means of understanding Maya and Samar’s relationship, and the lines both are willing to cross due to their individual and shared desires.
Overall
Our Rating (77/100): Mixed (Divisive)
Maya and Samar does a wonderful job in exploring the relationship and dynamic between a journalist and her subject. However, at times it can seem that, in the pursuit of showcasing Maya’s liberation compared to the restraint Samar is sometimes coerced into, it gets lost in presenting the dichotomy rather than two unique individuals worth knowing. Never mind a potential couple you want to see survive the circumstances they are navigating.
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