Based on real events, ‘Huda’s Salon’ — directed by two-time SLIFF alum Hany Abbu-Assad (“Omar,” “Rana’s Wedding”) — is a heart-racing, entertaining feminist thriller in which two women fight for their freedom. Nadia, a young mother married to a jealous man, goes to Huda’s salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear. But this ordinary visit turns sour when Huda, after having put Nadia in a shameful situation, blackmails her into working for the Secret Service of the Israeli occupiers and thus betraying her people. The Playlist writes: “There’s no escape for the women in Hany Abu-Assad’s blistering new film ‘Huda’s Salon,’ a fearless statement on gender oppression shaped as an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Back in top form, the acclaimed director behind stunners such as ‘Paradise Now’ and ‘Omar’ returns to dissecting the perilous Palestinian experience under Israeli control. Strikingly bold in its dramatic construction, and adept at folding the macro issues into the lives of everyday residents of a tumultuous area of the world, ‘Huda’s Salon’ is contained inside an expertly paced plot that seems ready to combust at any second.”