''AlRawabi School for Girls'' () is a Jordanian

teen drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

television series, created for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

by Tima Shomali. The series mainly focuses on the impact of

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

within school systems and societal expectations of young women. The series premiered worldwide on

on 21 August 2021. It is the second Jordanian Netflix original series after ''

Jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

''. In May 2022, the series was renewed for a second season after originally being announced as a miniseries. Filming for the second season concluded in May 2023. The second season premiered on 15 February 2024 on Netflix.

Plot

After a teenager named Mariam is

bullied Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

by girls in her elite private school, she plans revenge with her friends. However, her actions have unexpected consequences. The first season focuses on two sets of high school friends to portray different aspects of school that are not commonly talked about. The show reflects and represents patriarchy, corrupt school systems/industries, bullying, mental health issues, religion, sexual assault, reputation and the tradition of

honour killings An honor killing (American English), ''honour killing'' (Commonwealth English), or ''shame killing'' is a type of murder in which a person, usually a woman or girl, is killed by or at the behest of male members of their family or their male ...

. In the second season, set in a new school year, most of the characters are new. A girl named Sarah faces similar challenges with bullies and changing friendship groups at AlRawabi. This season delves deeper into themes of

cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...

, stalking, and the dangers of social media. Each of the episodes in both season ends with a message providing viewers with sources to call for help if they are experiencing the issues discussed in the plot lines, including bullying, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts. Reviewer Calum Cooper notes that the second season continues the story's thematic richness, but in a complementary vein: “Where season one was a story of how young women in the Arabic region suffer under patriarchy, through loss of morality or straight up murder, season two is an impassioned call for solidarity.”

Cast

Main

* Andria Tayeh as Mariam (season 1; guest season 2) * Rakeen Sa'ad as Noaf (season 1; guest season 2) * Noor Taher as Layan Murad Fathi (season 1; guest season 2) * Yara Mustafa as Dina (season 1; guest season 2) * Joanna Arida as Rania (season 1; guest season 2) * Salsabiela A. as Ruqayya (season 1; guest season 2) * Tara Abboud as Sarah (season 2) * Sarah Yousef as Tasneem (season 2) * Tara Atalla as Nadeen (season 2) * Kira Yaghnam as Hiba (season 2) * Thalia Elansari as Shams (season 2) * Raneem Haitham as Farah (season 2) * Reem Saadeh as Miss Abeer * Tima Shomali as Ms Farida

Recurring

* Nadera Emran as Principal Faten Qadi * Faris Al Bahri as Ahmad * Ahmad Hamdan as Laith Radwan * Sari Silawi as Hazem * Mohammad Nizar as Omar (season 2) * Laith Abweh as Ali (season 2) * Karam Shami as Jawad (season 2) *

Lana Albeik Lana Albeik (born c. 1995) is an Emirati-born Palestinian-Syrian model and actress based in Dubai. Early life Albeik was born in Ajman, United Arab Emirates to a Palestinian father from Akka and a Syrian mother from Aleppo. She studied film, com ...

as Rand (season 2) * Zain Fakhoury as Luma (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2024)

Production

Development

When Tima Shomali developed the idea for ''AlRawabi School for Girls'', she was not thinking about a release on

. According to an interview Shomali gave for Amman TV (and summarized by

Al Bawaba ''Al Bawaba'' () is a news, blogging and media website headquartered in Amman, Jordan with an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Since 2001 it has published the ''Mena Report'', which covers the business and economics in Arab world. ''Al Ba ...

) however, "the global streaming platform loved the show and translated it to several languages." Shomali also indicated in the same interview that her goal was to create a dialogue about the concept of bullying, as when she was growing up, the term "was not used, and we did not know what bullying meant, but we lived through it and did not know about it." Shomali also commented on her intent to introduce women's voices the "one thing I always found lacking in most shows that talk about women is the female perception on their issues. So I gathered around a brilliant team of women to work on developing and executing the show's creative vision. Together, we envisioned and built the elements of the Al Rawabi world, starting from the characters, set design, colors, lighting and even the music." Later, on 13 April 2019, Shomali announced to her followers on Facebook that she was working on creating an original Arabic Netflix series, in collaboration with her Jordanian production company Filmizion Productions, titled ''AlRawabi School for Girls''. On 18 May 2022, Tima Shomali, Netflix MENA and the cast announced a season two to AlRawabi, despite the fact it was supposed to be a mini/limited series. She shared 3 photos via Instagram. Filming wrapped in May 2023.

Casting

Working alongside the writer Shirin Kamal, Tima Shomali created a full female cast drama series, that takes place in an all girls school and explores the ideas of revenge and bullying. They cast "new faces", and allowed the actors to choose the characters that they wanted to portray.

Release

Response

According to Jordanian psychologist Samira H., ''AlRawabi School for Girls'' "depicts the significant impact of bullying on the mental health of young girls." She also states that she hopes "stories like the one portrayed in the series encourages parents and schools to be more sympathetic with those who are bullied so that they don't feel so alone." ''AlRawabi'' also created controversy, as many thought it was an inaccurate representation of Jordan, their culture, lifestyle and society, along with Arabs as a whole. People have also criticized ''AlRawabi'' for some of the topics mentioned in the show. However, many loved this show. On social media, many praised the show for openly portraying topics which don't often get talked about. Many have also praised the show for portraying young/teenaged Arab girls.

References

External links

* * * {{Netflix original current series Arabic-language television shows Netflix television dramas Jordanian television series Television shows filmed in Jordan Television shows set in Jordan 2021 Jordanian television series debuts 2020s teen drama television series 2020s school television series Television series about school bullying