Much Loved (2015): When Art Dares to Speak the Truth No One Wants to Hear
Some films seek to captivate an audience, while others aim to reveal uncomfortable truths about humanity. Nabil Ayouch’s Much Loved easily falls into the latter category. Unflinching, raw, and human, the film is a drama that challenges Arab cinema in the most pioneering way. It is brave cinema about more than just prostitution; it is about the women in societies that prefer silence to truth, and the heart-wrenching battles they fight behind the glass smiles.
However, that’s not to say Much Loved was solely a political statement. It was a human film, and it was political because it was human in the most profound and empathetic ways. It captured the essence of modern Morocco while resonating with a broader audience — those who have witnessed women being judged for survival, condemned for desire, and silenced for the truth. This is why it was able to resonate unexpectedly in India.
Faces of the Forbidden
Central to Much Loved is Noha, the character played by Loubna Abidar. She is so vibrant, so painfully real, that one might wonder if anything about her is fiction, that she might be someone you might see on the street and forget to acknowledge. Noha is a sex worker in Marrakesh. She balances the demands of her wealthy clients with a basic human need for dignity, companionship, and the instinct for survival. She shares her life with her three friends — Randa (Asmaa Lazrak), Hlima (Halima Karaouane), and Soukaina (Sara Elhamdi Elalaoui). Together, this group forms the basis through which the film exposes its truth.
It is Abidar that turns the film from social commentary to lived experience. She doesn’t perform Noha; she is Noha. There is exhaustion in her laughter, defiance in her glances, and tenderness in her silences. Hearing Noha, the character does not ask for sympathy; she demands it.
In many ways, Loubna Abidar’s life began to mirror her role. She was known in Moroccan theater, but had not been was able to fully exploit her potential. Much Loved was that chance, but it was at a cost. After all, it was the “first moroccan film to deal with taboo subjects.” It was the first to be banned in morocco, “outraging public decency”. Abidar afterwards, had to leave her country. She said, “I paid with my life for a role that was meant to show the truth.”
India, like morocco, has eerie parallels in society. Here, as well, actresses, from smita patil in Arth to Radhika Apte in Parched, have been criticized for taking roles that confront the patriarchy, and sexual hypocrisy. Despite the difference in cultures, both societies have the same tension between reverence and repression. In both cases, women in cinema are celebrated for their boldness, but harshly punished for being real.
A Director Who Wouldn’t Look Away
Nabil Ayouch has built a reputation as a provocateur for films like Ali Zaoua and Horses of God, which focus on street life and extremism. However, with Much Loved Ayouch changed his focus from social commentary to a moral confrontation. For two years, he studied and gained first-hand experience of Morocco’s underground sex trade, speaking to women, spending time on the streets, and listening to their stories.
This approach allowed Ayouch to create a film which didn’t pass moral judgement on its characters, but tried to understand them. He captured Much Loved with a distinctive intimacy, using a handheld camera so closely that one could feel the sweat, tears, and the exhaustion of the women during their nights. “It wasn’t about shock,” Ayouch said. “It was about truth. These women exist. They are part of our society, whether we want to see them or not.”
The production was, however, embroiled in drama during filming, with several local crew members reportedly walking off set. For scenes that required sensitive vulnerability, especially the sexual ones, Ayouch worked with closed sets and intense discussions about consent. He invited his actors to diverge from the script to evoke emotional truth instead of contrived theatrics.
Between Bans and Applause
Standing ovations and enthusiastic reviews received by Much Loved at Cannes were only superseded by the accolades lauding the courage and empathy that Loubna Abidar courageously displayed. Yet, the Moroccan government’s response while censoring the film was also telling. Fearing the film ‘an affront to moral values,’ it banned the film. With a heart-wrenching irony, a film that examines the silencing of women was, in turn, silenced.
Despite this, and perhaps because of this, it allowed the film to amplify its message. The controversy in this instance, allowed it to circulate, reaching audiences around the world, audiences that hypocritically opened their film and tv gates to it, suggesting their governments controlled access to this so-called dangerous film. For it was in India that cinephiles, drawing on the historical and culturally censored Much Loved, made associations with Fire (1996) and Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017) that also faced censorship.
Indian critics noted that the films were set in disparate cultures, despite this, the emotional truths, in their opinion, remained universal. The friendship between the women, their camaraderie – the warmth, play and sometimes strife, vulnerability, in contrast to the heavy focus on censoring, was striking how the indian film industry vainly attempts to portray and round female relationships in the moral and censoring kills. Much Loved dared to show that women and silencing of their friendship was, and is, a vicious moral instrument.
What Others Didn’t See
Most conversations talked about the film’s sexual openness, but few saw the subtle political ones. The women in Much Loved function in a system where hypocritical men in power, politicians and businessmen, and under tourists, exploit and moralize at the same time. The details of a client politely initiating a conversation and later descending into abuse, or a bribed policeman, showcase the corruption in the social order.
The scene where, in a kitchen, the women dance together and laugh between bites of food is. The film is not about sex or rebellion, but about small, unstoppable joy, and that moment of sisterhood speaks about resilience.
In India, where the conversations about women’s sexuality are still within the boundaries of victimhood and empowering phrases, Much Loved illustrates that reality is between the two; pain and laughter coexist.
Real-Life Ripples
Loubna Abidar’s life post the film grew into a story of its own. Having been exiled from Morocco, she sought refuge in France, where she continued to act and became an outspoken advocate for women’s rights. She even wrote a memoir titled, La Dangereuse, about the backlash she received. She was nominated for Best Actress at the César Awards in France in 2016, an award she received as poetic justice to an artist who, in her homeland, was considered “immoral”.
For Ayouch, the film’s backlash only strengthened his resolve. He subsequently directed Razzia (2017) which continued to probe themes of repression and resistance. The persistence of Ayouch is akin to the defiance of Indian filmmakers who continue, despite threats, to tell inconvenient tales that challenge the societal status quo.
Even after the years that have passed, Much Loved continues to generate discussion, not simply about sex work, but about dignity, agency, and the right to self-expression.
Between Cinema and Society
When looking at Much Loved through an Indian lens, one thinks of our own fights with cultural contradictions. Society panic about bold films and censorship regarding female desire showcase similar cultural contradictions worldwide. Most of all, what makes Much Loved powerful is its unapologetic refuse. Its unapologetic stance in its language, honesty and empathy is something every filmmaker ought to admire and aspire. Much Loved is a film that does not just pose questions; it reflects. As both Moroccan and Indian audiences demonstrate, the most challenging aspect of art is, at times, not the consumption of it; it is confronting the reality of one’s own existence. Most importantly, what makes Much Loved powerful is its unapologetic stance in its language, honesty and empathy. Much Loved is, in reality, about survival, friendship, and the cost of truth in a world that prefers lies. It is about women told they are unworthy of love, and that through pain and laughter, they learn to love themselves. More than any scandal or a ban, this is what makes Much Loved unforgettable.
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