A Palestinian hairdresser blackmails her clients into spying for the Israeli Secret Service in this fraught thriller.
Huda's Salon takes place in Bethlehem on the Occupied West Bank in Palestine. Outside that region, the setup of the movie requires a little more explanation - I imagine it needs none at home.
In short, the town has been under Israeli rule since 1967, though the wall separating it from the rest of the country only went up in 2002.
The opening scene - an extraordinary 10-minute single shot - takes place at a hairdressing salon run by divorcee Huda.
Her friend Reem has made an appointment for the first time in ages. Her husband won't let her out of his sight, she complains. He suspects she's having an affair.
The sort of gossip, in other words, that goes on in salons everywhere. Except unexpectedly Reem feels faint and passes out. A young man comes out of hiding, and he and Huda take Reem out the back, where they strip her and take compromising photographs.
Huda is about to blackmail her friend into spying for the Israeli Secret Service. Reem is bewildered and horrified.
And we're on the back foot too. Why would a friend do such a terrible thing? Reem goes home in a panic. Can she tell her husband Yussef what happened and hope he believes her?
Well, like most husbands in Middle East films, Yussef doesn't seem someone whose support you can count on. But maybe he'll surprise us and break the mould.
Meanwhile, Huda is about to get her own surprise. It seems she was already under surveillance by the Israeli Secret Service's sworn enemy, the Palestinian Resistance.
A squad invades the salon, arrests Huda and prepares to interrogate her with extreme prejudice,
So the film Huda's Salon - written and directed by the award-winning Palestinian-Dutch filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad - alternates between the fate of Huda at the salon, and that of Reem desperately trying to find a way out of her predicament.
It feels at times like a good stage play. Abu-Assad is very keen on long dramatic shots, particularly for the interrogation scenes between Huda and her Resistance captor, Hasan.
It's clear that Huda's fate was pretty much sealed before they arrested her. The only question is can they make her talk first?
Meanwhile, Reem may not be imprisoned, but that's about all you can say for her. She has almost as little choice as Huda. She can't tell her husband Yussef. Can she confide in her family? Can she simply take her baby and leave town?
Except to do that she needs a permit. And who gives out the permits? The Israeli Secret Service.
The situation around Palestine has been so fraught for so long that all an outsider can do when confronted by a film like Huda's Salon, is simply bear witness.
We're told at the start of the film that it's based on real-life events. And sadly, I have no reason to doubt it.
Over the years we've seen many films about the conflict there, and the awful behaviour - on both sides - that continues to go on.
That one side would resort to the blackmailing of innocent women, while another would insist on summary executions to stiffen their supporters' resolve seems both evil - and remarkably stupid - to outsiders.
But the social prejudices underpinning these actions - particularly the brutal violence and ingrained, casual sexism in the region - are also relentlessly depressing.
Huda's Salon is a thriller in a place with seemingly no way out.
Significantly the problems faced by both Reem and Huda are almost entirely caused by men. It's admirable that such a film could be made - very well - by a man. But you wish that some of the men in this story could be allowed to behave with a bit of common decency.
Of course, this story is based on real life, and Hany Abu-Assad is simply telling it like it is.
But in these often unpleasant times, reality and 'telling it like it is' are starting to feel overrated.
