Return (2022)

Damascus, spring 2013. Husam is an ordinary Syrian soldier who visits his Family in Damascus on a 24hr leave. He sits in the kitchen and after a long absence enjoys the company and food of his mother, but there is a lump in his throat. He would like to open his heart for his mother and tell her what he really feels: That he is fighting for a group of corrupt and criminal people. He wants to say to her that he is afraid of death and he wants to escape military service, but his mother insists on describing him as the hero who is fighting for his country and his family honor. Both characters have an intense inner struggle that forces them to show the opposite of what they actually feel. Husam tries in many ways to tell his mother how dangerous the current situation on the front is, but his mother ignores his fears. She asks him to help her and bring the old television from the attic. There he finds an old plastic toy which intensifies his awareness to his tragic situation.