Kareem’s Oorah: On the Surprise and Relief of Finding Common Ground

M’Jay Milligan’s Kareem’s Oorah is a tense post-9/11 drama hinged on the clash between one man’s virulent hatred and anger, and another man’s unflappable kindness. Two marines—separated by rank, race, and religion, and connected by the same squad—find themselves sequestered without aid and nothing in the way to gloss over their differences. Especially when the superior is intent on tearing up any veils of civility.

At twenty-one minutes, the film gives its characters a wealth of time to push their differences to their extreme, where they might finally find bridging commonalities—other than their obviously and officially shared purpose—or an alienation so intense it implodes. Lance Corporal Kareem Dialo (Raymond Karago, also the co-writer, along with Taraiyasi Prym-Waqa) is black and Muslim. His staff sergeant, Taylor (Dustin Ardine), is a white Christian. Creating a microcosm of the heated post-9/11 socio-political climate that allowed the invasion of Iraq, the film has Taylor position himself as the absolute wronged victim. To hammer the point home, the man has a literal bleeding heart.

On a plot level, the actively bleeding gunshot wound adds urgency to the situation and to his many slings and arrows directed, unprompted, at his subordinate, Kareem. The latter responds with his best attempt at amenability, the bigger man standing apart from the rage that affects his interrogator. The questions do not aim for an answer, of course. And yet, Kareem tries, holding out the olive branch like a lifeline to the man sprawled on the floor in the thrall of his own resentments.

The film turns the audience into a proxy for Taylor when there is a window to clarify latent or manifest beliefs that may be as much ignorance as bias. Either way, playing into the trope of the wise Other, Kareem’s steadfast goodness is used not only as a foil but also as a directly addressed, impassioned lesson.

The dramatic turns are written well, using surprise to give even an unlikeable character like Taylor complexity. It requires some suspension of disbelief, but the twist is satisfying enough—and for that matter, it is also a relief to see more to him than a wall of hate-fuelled vitriol.

Kareem’s Oorah, while paying tribute to veterans, preaches a message of love and understanding. It exhorts its audience to see beyond the machinations of self-serving politicians, and into the communities we can form. Workers, lovers, and all.

Watch Kareem’s Oorah Short Film Trailer