Ramy – You Are Naked in Front of Your Sheikh

By starrymag | June 10, 2020

By: Ariba Bhuvad

 

 

In a flashback to Ramy’s (Ramy Youssef) trip to Egypt he’s seen checking in at the Grand Egyptian Hotel. The concierge (Adham Murched) asks Ramy if he is going to be alone and if there will be a woman staying with him that is not immediate family he will need to provide a marriage certificate to prove the relationship. A random woman cannot stay in the room according to the laws they have in place, so Ramy tells him that will not be the case and he will be alone. 

 

Once in his room his cousin/girlfriend, Amani (Rosaline Elbay), shows up after having hid from the hotel staff. They start making out, but are disturbed when the concierge shows up at the door saying he saw a woman come into Ramy’s room. Amani quickly hides as Ramy lets the guy in who begins searching around the room for someone. When he eventually finds Amani and she gives him her ID he sees that her last name is the same as Ramy, so they trick the concierge by telling him that they are siblings. 

 

The whole hiding thing is getting to be too much for Amani who doesn’t want to sneak away every time they are together. She thinks that they should come up a plan and tell their family, but Ramy doesn’t seem too rushed to do that. In fact, he tells Amani he is still figuring things out and isn’t ready for their families to be involved as they will start talking about marriage. It becomes clear to Amani that Ramy is not interested in anything more than what they’ve been doing and hasn’t been extending his trip for her sake. Amani storms out as she tells Ramy that she can’t risk her life and everything for someone that doesn’t believe in anything. 

 

In the present Zainab (MaameYaa Boafo) is with Ramy at her mother’s grave. She wanted to share this moment with him because as a kid she and her family used to pray outside of a cemetery every time they passed it. Eventually they learned that it was a pet cemetery, but its an experience Zainab always cherished with her parents. She hopes that as a couple she and Ramy can commit to improving together. Ramy wishes that he could have met Zainab’s mother, who seems just as amazing as she is. He opens up about the fact as a kid he had a small part of him that wished his parents died. Something like that would have given him an “edge” and it could have been his thing, something a lot of kids often had. But as he got older he realized that his parents being around was better in the long run. 

 

Maysa (Hiam Abbass) is trying to figure out what she would wear to Zainab and Ramy’s katb kitab (“marriage ceremony) and asks for Ramy’s opinion. After the experience he just had with Zainab it seems Ramy feels sentimental towards his mom and expresses his gratitude for all the support she’s given him, especially with his wife-to-be. Maysa is overcome with emotions, but when she reveals that she’s invited their cousins from Egypt for the event Ramy gets flustered. Apparently, Maysa ended up inviting Amani and her brother Shadi (Shadi Alfons) and they are actually flying from Egypt to be there. This won’t bode well for Ramy given his history with Amani, so he lashes out on Maysa for letting them come, especially when they planned for a small event. Ramy is also under the impression that Amani will be coming with her fiance, something he found out about via Instagram. But Dena (May Calamawy) said that they broke up recently, but it doesn’t really help Ramy’s case and he walks out of the room.

 

Ahead of the big day the entire family on both sides gets together. Shadi and Amani arrive from Egypt and it’s clear Ramy is uncomfortable and confused by her being there. His discomfort worsens when he introduces Zainab to Amani, but he just has to go through the motions of the whole ordeal. Later that night Maysa asks Ramy to take Amani to the store to get some things. While he’s reluctant to do so, he has no other option. After getting what they need Ramy and Amani stand outside for a bit by the car as she gets in a smoke. He wants to know why Amani came to his wedding. At first she says it was because she couldn’t turn down a free trip to New York, even though they’re actually in New Jersey. But she thought about it long and hard on the flight over and she came to the conclusion that maybe she hasn’t moved on from him. They ended things so abruptly and perhaps she overreacted because she was scared. Her confession is now confusing Ramy, which wasn’t her intention, but he’s still finding himself unsure of things now. Amani tries to console Ramy and says that they are fine the way they are and that she really likes Zainab. But their whole interaction turns into a mess when they start making out. 

 

The next day at the katb kitab Ramy is more lost than ever. Mo (Mohammed Amer), Ahmed (Dave Merheje) and Steve (Steve Way) aren’t really helping the case. Steve thinks he should have taken Zainab out for a “test drive” before marriage. Ahmed thinks he needs to just suck it up and go for it. Mo advises him to take on multiple wives because according to the Quran that is permissible and it’s something the Prophet did too. Ramy is just confused because he’s having thoughts about someone else, but after talking to Mo, Steve and Ahmed he decides he will marry Zainab. 

 

The Sheikh (Mahershala Ali) performs Zainab and Ramy’s wedding ceremony. And, just like that, they are married officially! Later that night they sleep together for the first time. Zainab shares with Ramy that she’s actually happy that he wasn’t a virgin because one of them having experience made their first time together a lot better. Ramy decides this is the moment to tell Zainab about his confused feelings and starts going off on a tangent about how Westerners have this idea of marriage, but he’s glad they’re not really adhering to that mindset. Of course, Zainab has no idea what Ramy is blabbering on about, but realizes what his point is when he starts saying things like “Allah wants them to be true to their nature” – a/k/a allowing more than one wife which is something the Prophet did in his lifetime. Ramy mentions maybe having just two wives, but Zainab is livid over the suggestion. Finally, Ramy’s truth starts spilling out as he reveals that he’s been feeling guilty about something. Basically, he tells Zainab that an ex recently showed up in his life, as recent as last night, and she was at their katb kitab. Mortified, Zainab realizes that Ramy is referring to Amani–his cousin. Zainab sets up a pillow barrier between them and says she isn’t dealing with all of this right now. 

 

When Ramy wakes up the next morning he realizes that Zainab is not there and has left her wedding ring behind. Instead, he finds the Sheikh sitting beside him with a very angry look on his face. Ramy starts to justify his behavior and is hoping that the three of them can make a prayer together and work through all of this. The Sheikh walks away and goes into the bathroom to do wudu (ablution) as Ramy follows him wearing just the sheet over him. It is then that the Sheikh reveals that Nico, the guy that Dennis beat up, has died. 

 

Ramy won’t stop following the Sheikh around and tries to explain why he told Zainab everything. It was the Sheikh, after all, that wanted him to be honest and truthful. Ramy can’t explain why he is the way he is, but the Sheikh begins cussing him out and telling him that the world isn’t there for Ramy’s self-improvement. Perhaps God sent Ramy to him for a reason, to see if he will revert back to his old ways. He feels Ramy is dangerous and incapable of understanding humility and doesn’t think he can help him. The Sheikh tries to leave, but Ramy asks him to stay as he goes and does Wudu really quickly. But when Ramy comes out the Sheikh has already left. 

 

Ramy goes home to get some things and finds Maysa, Farouk, Dena, Shadi and Amani all sitting and talking together. He just says he came back to get things and while he’s there he’ll take Boomer (Mika) with him, too. Farouk (Amr Waked) is saddened by the idea of Ramy taking Boomer, as he’s grown attached to him. Maysa tells Ramy to bring Zainab by for dinner later. Before Ramy heads out Shadi confesses to him that he has feelings for Dena, but tries to reject them because they’re cousins. Unfortunately, Ramy doesn’t say anything to help comfort him and instead takes Boomer and signals Amani to meet him outside. 

 

Ramy tells Amani that he made a mistake and it’s not regarding them, but rather that he married Zainab. But Amani has had enough, she doesn’t want to be with someone that’s impulsive and destructive and makes her do things that make her hate herself. Amani thinks Ramy should go back to his wife because she’s done with him, even if he thinks they should be together. 

 

With no where else to go Ramy takes Boomer and starts walking. He keeps walking until he finds himself at Dennis’ car, the very same one that they found Boomer in. He finds the car key and turns it on only to hear the CD that Dennis was listening to about the steps to learning how to do Wudu. It’s a very devastating moment for Ramy who just sits there with Boomer as his life crumbles around him.