OVERVIEW
In Hot Water (2026), a Lebanese mother and her American son head west after he is expelled from his Indiana high school for repeatedly getting into fights, hoping to find his father. Together, mother and son move through diners, motels, and hot springs, and each stop draws them closer.
BACKGROUND
The film is the feature debut of Syrian American filmmaker Ramzi Bashour, following a run of shorts and craft work in editing, sound, and music. Hot Water is produced by Max Walker-Silverman, whose Sundance film Rebuilding featured a score by Bashour. Structurally, it fits one of Sundance’s most familiar templates: an understated road movie that lets the relationship change one stop at a time.
THE REVIEW
The small encounters, the sparse guitar score, the landscapes, and the cheap motels will feel familiar to anyone who has seen a few Sundance movies, and Bashour sticks closely to that formula. At first, the mother only agrees to drive her son part of the way. A few miles later, she decides to go all the way. Along the route, they drift into mild trouble, meet strangers, and collect small moments that slowly soften the trip. The best is a stop with Dale Dickey, who invites them to take a dip in a hot spring, and gives the film its name. It is pleasant and easy to watch, with no surprises until they reach their destination.
A movie like this works as much as you connect with the main characters, and thankfully, Lubna Azabal and Daniel Zolghadri make a compelling duo. Both sell the mother-son dynamic and give their roles more than what is on the page. More than anything, they ground the film in two flawed people trying to do their best, even when they are not fully sure what “best” looks like.
Azabal is especially effective at portraying a mother at her wits’ end without the script spelling it out. The first scene, in which Layla teaches Arabic to a few difficult students, tells you almost everything you need to know about her habits, and the actress instantly convinces you that she has given up a lot and now is simply going through the motions. Zolghadri’s Daniel does not get an equivalent moment, and we never fully understand what drives him or why living with his father would be better. What Zolghadri conveys well is Daniel’s growing respect for his mother and the gradual recognition of how much she has already sacrificed.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If the journey is not the most original or surprising, at least Hot Water keeps us invested in the central relationship, and the two characters are trying their best to make the right choice. It could have gone further into the two characters, as much remains unsaid, but it eventually arrives in a simple yet moving payoff. It ultimately makes you want to go skinny dipping in Hot Water.