''Breaking Fast'' is a 2020 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film, directed by Mike Mosallam and released in 2020. An expansion of Mosallam's 2015 short film of the same title, the film stars

Haaz Sleiman Haaz Sleiman (; ar, هاز سليمان; born July 1, 1976) is a Lebanese actor. He most notably played the role of Tarek in the 2007 film '' The Visitor'' for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and ...

as Mo, a gay Muslim doctor in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

who is emotionally closed off following a painful breakup with his former partner Hassan (

Patrick Sabongui Patrick Sabongui (born January 9, 1975) is a Canadian actor, stunt performer, theatre actor, and drama teacher. He is also known for his role as David Singh in the CW series '' The Flash''. Personal life Born to an Egyptian family, Sabongui o ...

); on the first day of Ramadan he meets Kal ( Michael Cassidy), getting to know him over nightly

iftar Iftar ( ar, translit=Iftar Ramadan, إفطار رمضان), also known as (from , , 'breakfast'), (), is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. They break their fast at the time of the call to prayer ...

s. The film premiered on March 7, 2020 at the

Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It is ...

; due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, it was screened digitally by several LGBT film festivals through the next several months. It was picked up for commercial distribution by

Vertical Entertainment Vertical Entertainment is an American film distribution and production company founded by producers Richard B. "Rich" Goldberg and Mitch Budin in 2012. History In 2012, Rich Goldberg & Mitch Budin founded Vertical Entertainment, a film distribut ...

in August 2020.

Cast

as Mo * Michael Cassidy as Kal * Amin El Gamal as Sam *

as Hassan *

Christopher J. Hanke Christopher Jason Hanke, often credited as Christopher J. Hanke, (born March 18, 1976) is an American actor and singer known for his roles on Broadway and television. Early life Hanke was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the oldest of five chil ...

as John * Rula Gardenier as Mama *

Veronica Cartwright Veronica Cartwright (born April 20, 1949) is a British-American actress. She is known for appearing in science fiction and horror films, and has earned numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. As a child actress, sh ...

as Judy * Aline Elasmar as Muna

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of .

Accolades

References

External links

* * 2020 romantic comedy films 2020 films 2020 LGBT-related films American romantic comedy films American LGBT-related films LGBT-related romantic comedy films Gay-related films Films about LGBT and Islam 2020s English-language films 2020s American films {{2020s-US-film-stub