Thank You for Banking with Us review: Laila Abbas's cutting take on gender politics in Palestine

The film follows two estranged sisters who work together to secure a fair share of their deceased father's inheritance

Yasmine Al Massri and Clara Khoury play sisters working together to earn a share of their inheritance. Photo: Mad Distribution

In an era that has welcomed the release of grief dramedy His Three Daughters and Jordanian inheritance drama Inshallah A Boy, Laila Abbas's debut feature Thank You for Banking with Us feels like a confident mash-up of the two.

The Palestinian filmmaker uses sharp wit to examine the gender dynamics of Islamic estate laws through the eyes of two estranged sisters in Ramallah on a mission to secure a share of their deceased father's estate.

Mariam (Clara Khoury) is a dissatisfied housewife and mother of two boys whose frustration with her life is evident the moment she is introduced as she struggles to open her front door while carrying several shopping bags into her apartment. Meanwhile, her sister Noura (Yasmine Al Massri) is a single beautician who still lives in the family home.

Their mother died at a young age and their brother Akram moved to the US, leaving the sisters – but mostly Noura – to care for their father. It is this backstory that sets up the fervent familial friction felt soon after their father's lifeless body is discovered, heightened by cinematographer Konstantin Kroning's use of long, intimate takes.

Abbass's dialogue is efficient and effective, with her script wasting little time getting into the main thrust of the story. The sisters seek to withdraw $160,000 from their father's bank account before his death is made public so they can secure a cut of his inheritance. By law, their absent brother is entitled to half of everything – including the house – because he is the male heir. Daughters do not get equal rights, so the sisters need to find a man to pretend to be their father to get the withdrawal approved.

Thus begins their 24-hour escapade across Ramallah to find a willing male accomplice, but nearly every man they deal with reinforces the archaic rules that keep women subordinated. Whether it's their judgemental uncle, dismissive brother or selfish lover, Abbas makes it very easy to root for the sisters in their attempted subterfuge.

Throughout the film, Khoury and Al Massri deliver a strong dose of sisterly tension, trading sharp remarks about each other's lifestyle choices and grievances. Their irritability with one another feels authentic and relatable without being overwrought or melodramatic. They spar with the kind of jabs only siblings who love each other deep down can do – sometimes passive-aggressively, other times bluntly aggressively, and always earning a wince or an uncomfortable laugh.

A powerful touch throughout is Kroning's camerawork that often frames them in two shots – whether they are conversing with each other or dealing with unhelpful men – which adds to that empowering sense that no matter their differences, they are in this together against the patriarchy.

A subplot also involves Mariam's marital woes and motherly apprehension enriches the narrative heartbeat. Mariam's dreams of an educated life were cut short when she married who she thought was her "Prince Charming" (Ashraf Barhoum) and fell pregnant. Twenty years later, she feels disconnected from the men in her life.

But even with such focus on familial turmoil, the Israel-Palestine conflict can be keenly felt in the periphery, as characters run through flaming protests against Israeli occupation and dismiss their own family members for having served time in Israeli jails. And in subtly highlighting the intersectionality of Palestinian strife, the film makes it clear that people can be oppressed while still marginalising a subsection of their own group. Thank You for Banking with Us is an assured, humorous and emotive reminder of that fact.

Thank You for Banking with Us will have its premiere at BFI London Film Festival on Thursday