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Girls of the Sun (2019) movie poster

Characters & Themes

Girls of the Sun (2019) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
2019 · 115 min · French
Echo score 53
JustWatch #23,257 1
Directed by
Eva Husson
Starring
Golshifteh Farahani, Arabi Ghibeh, Behi Djanati Atai, Erol Afsin, Evin Ahmad, Maia Shamoevi

During a brutal conflict in Kurdistan, Commander Bahar leads a courageous brigade of women on a perilous mission to liberate their homeland from extremist forces. She is also driven by the desire to rescue her own son, who is being held hostage. A French journalist, Mathilde, documents their fight, revealing the remarkable stories of these warriors determined to reclaim their freedom and fight for Women, Life, Liberty.

On this page (7)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Characters explained (3)
  3. 3 Where & when it takes place
  4. 4 Themes & meaning (4)
  5. 5 Character & meaning questions
  6. 6 Movie threads
  7. 7 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Girls of the Sun (2019)

Where can you watch Girls of the Sun? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Kanopy, Tubi TV and Amazon Video: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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3 main characters · contains spoilers

Girls of the Sun Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of Girls of the Sun (2019), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Bahar (Golshifteh Farahani)

    Leader of the Gordyene Unit, Bahar commands a diverse team formed from former ISIS captives. Her backstory reveals a life as a lawyer with a husband and son, making her fight deeply personal. She navigates the moral complexities of warfare, balancing civilian protection with aggressive tactics to save the vulnerable.

    • 💪 Leader
    • 🧭 Strategist
    • 👩‍👧 Mother
  • Dahlia Saeed

    played by Behi Djanati Atai

    An activist who operates behind the scenes to rescue captured women. She communicates through a hidden hotline, arranging escapes with trusted smugglers during holy hours when ISIS fighters pause. Dahlia represents humanitarian hope and connects the Gordyene Unit to wider networks of aid.

    • 💪 Activist
    • 🧭 Connector
    • 🌍 Humanitarian
  • Mathilde

    A French war reporter who documents the Gordyene Unit's operations and the siege of civilians. Her perspective foregrounds the human cost of conflict and the resilience of those who resist oppression.

    • 📰 Journalist
    • 🎗 Witness
    • 🌐 Observer

Last updated: August 02, 2026 at 13:00

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Setting

Where and When Does Girls of the Sun Take Place?

The setting of Girls of the Sun (2019): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

Location

Kurdistan

Kurdistan is depicted as a contemporary conflict zone where Kurdish forces confront ISIS. The Gordyene Unit operates in tunnels and urban streets, carrying out raids and rescue missions to free captives and protect civilians. The landscape shifts between memories of a peaceful life and brutal warfare, underscoring the resilience of both civilians and fighters.

  • 🗺️ Kurdistan region
  • 🛡️ Women-led resistance
  • 💥 Conflict zone

Last updated: August 02, 2026 at 13:00

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4 major themes

Girls of the Sun Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is Girls of the Sun (2019) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • War & Survival

    The film presents war as a brutal, personal struggle that tests courage and loyalty. The Gordyene Unit faces constant danger, using tunnels and ambush tactics to outmaneuver better-equipped forces. Resilience, sacrifice, and camaraderie among the women drive the rescue of civilians.

  • Female Empowerment

    Bahar's leadership and the unit's teamwork challenge stereotypes by showing women shaping strategy and taking decisive action under fire. The group asserts agency in a male-dominated conflict space and navigates moral complexities with resolve. The narrative links personal history to collective strength, highlighting resilience and solidarity.

  • Motherhood

    Motherhood motivates Bahar and the unit to protect innocent children, including the search for Bahar's own son. Flashbacks to a peaceful life before the war contrast with present danger, amplifying the emotional stakes of their mission. The film frames maternal responsibility as a driving force in acts of courage.

  • Child Rescue

    The story centers on freeing child captives brainwashed by ISIS and reclaiming their innocence. Rescue operations are urgent and risky, revealing the moral weight of saving the young amid ongoing combat. The unit's actions emphasize hope and the possibility of rebuilding lives after trauma.

Last updated: August 02, 2026 at 13:00

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Character & theme questions

Girls of the Sun Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about Girls of the Sun (2019): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where is the story set?

Girls of the Sun takes place in Kurdistan, depicted as a contemporary conflict zone where Kurdish forces confront ISIS. The narrative moves between urban streets, underground tunnels used for raids and rescue operations, and flashbacks to a peaceful life before the war, emphasizing the stark contrast between memory and present-day violence.

  • kurdistan
  • conflict zone
  • setting
  • isis
  • urban warfare
  • tunnels
Q2

What is the central conflict about?

The central conflict in Girls of the Sun centers on Kurdish forces, particularly the women's brigade, confronting ISIS to free captives and protect civilians. The struggle extends beyond the battlefield to include rescuing children brainwashed by extremist ideology and reclaiming the region's dignity and freedom.

  • kurdish forces
  • isis
  • central conflict
  • resistance
  • liberation
Q3

Who is Commander Bahar?

Bahar is the leader of the Gordyene Unit in Girls of the Sun, a former lawyer whose peaceful life with her husband and son was destroyed by the conflict. She commands a diverse team of women fighters, balancing aggressive combat tactics with the moral weight of protecting civilians, and her fight is deeply personal because her own son is held captive by extremists.

  • bahar
  • commander
  • gordyene unit
  • leader
  • lawyer
  • kurdish fighter
Q4

Is the story inspired by real events?

Girls of the Sun draws on the documented experiences of Kurdish women who fought against ISIS, incorporating the historical reality of women-led resistance in the region. While the central characters are fictionalized, the brigade, the conflict setting, and the atrocities depicted are rooted in the real-world Kurdish struggle against extremist forces.

  • real events
  • historical
  • kurdish resistance
  • isis conflict
  • inspired
Q5

What is the Gordyene Unit?

The Gordyene Unit is a women-led brigade in Girls of the Sun, operating under Kurdish command to confront extremist forces. Formed largely from former ISIS captives, the unit carries out raids through tunnels and ambush tactics to free prisoners and protect civilians, asserting agency in a male-dominated conflict space.

  • gordyene unit
  • women's brigade
  • kurdish fighters
  • female soldiers
  • isis
Q6

How does the film portray female empowerment?

Girls of the Sun challenges gender stereotypes by showing women leading military strategy, making life-and-death decisions, and asserting agency in a male-dominated conflict space. The brigade's teamwork, moral resolve, and solidarity demonstrate that empowerment in war is not just about fighting, but about shaping ethical choices and protecting the vulnerable.

  • female empowerment
  • women in war
  • gender stereotypes
  • solidarity
Q7

What does motherhood symbolize in the film?

Motherhood serves as a primary motivation in Girls of the Sun, driving Bahar and the brigade to protect innocent children and rescue the next generation. Flashbacks to Bahar's life as a mother and wife contrast sharply with the violence of the present, framing maternal responsibility as the emotional core of their courage and sacrifice.

  • motherhood
  • maternal love
  • sacrifice
  • protection
  • motivation
Q8

Who is Mathilde?

Mathilde is a French war journalist who follows the brigade in Girls of the Sun to document their operations and the siege of civilians. Her outsider perspective foregrounds the human cost of the conflict and the resilience of Kurdish women resisting oppression, though she becomes personally entangled in the dangers she came to report on.

  • mathilde
  • french journalist
  • war reporter
  • documentation
  • observer
Q9

What role does Dahlia Saeed play?

Dahlia Saeed is an activist who operates behind the scenes in Girls of the Sun, coordinating the rescue of captured women through a hidden hotline. She arranges escapes with trusted smugglers during prayer hours when extremist fighters pause, connecting the brigade to wider humanitarian networks and embodying a quiet, civilian form of resistance.

  • dahlia saeed
  • activist
  • escape network
  • hotline
  • humanitarian
Q10

What does the child rescue theme represent?

The child rescue theme in Girls of the Sun represents the effort to free young captives who have been brainwashed by extremist ideology and reclaim their innocence. The urgency of these operations reveals the moral weight of saving the next generation amid ongoing combat and underscores the brigade's hope for rebuilding lives after trauma.

  • child rescue
  • captives
  • brainwashing
  • innocence
  • trauma
Q11

What time period does the story take place in?

Girls of the Sun is set during the contemporary Kurdish conflict against ISIS, placing it in the modern era of the 2010s. The presence of extremist forces, modern weaponry, and a Western journalist situate the story in a recent, real-world geopolitical struggle rather than a historical or futuristic setting.

  • time period
  • contemporary
  • modern era
  • kurdish conflict
  • 2010s
Q12

How does the film balance its dark subject matter with hope?

Girls of the Sun maintains a dark, brutal tone because of its subject matter, including ISIS atrocities, sexual violence, and child endangerment, yet it carries an undercurrent of defiant hope through the solidarity of its female protagonists. The women's camaraderie, successful rescues, and Bahar's determination prevent the story from collapsing into total bleakness, framing resilience as an act of collective courage.

  • dark tone
  • hope
  • resilience
  • solidarity
  • female protagonists

Movie threads

More Movies Like Girls of the Sun, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Girls of the Sun tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Female resistance and sisterhood like in Girls of the Sun

Female soldiers reclaiming their world with courage, fury, and unbreakable bonds. If you were moved by Girls of the Sun, these movies like Girls of the Sun showcase women fighters, partisan brigades, and resistance sisters who battle extremism and occupation. Expect similar war dramas, Kurdish female soldier stories, and powerful films about women reclaiming freedom through combat, courage, and unbreakable bonds.

  • resilient
  • visceral
  • somber
  • steadfast
  • gritty
  • sisterhood
  • Tone: dark, defiant
  • Pacing: variable, combat and reflection
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Protagonists are often introduced through personal loss, then pulled into a larger collective struggle. The narrative builds toward a high-stakes mission that tests loyalty and endurance. Along the way, flashbacks reveal a peaceful past or a private wound, sharpening the contrast with the brutality of the present. The arc usually ends in partial victory: the mission is achieved but at a cost, leaving the women forever changed but unbroken.

Why they belong together: They share a focus on female-led combat ensembles, themes of maternal and communal love under fire, and a tonal blend of grim realism with defiant hope. Pacing tends to alternate between tightly choreographed action and intimate, emotional pauses, and endings are typically bittersweet rather than triumphant.

War journalism and the outsider witness like in Girls of the Sun

Outsiders documenting atrocity, where every frame carries grief, danger, and uneasy truth. Movies like Girls of the Sun that follow journalists and foreign witnesses documenting war, atrocity, and resilience. These war correspondent films, conflict documentaries, and journalist dramas blend personal danger with reflective storytelling, exploring how outsiders bear witness to female fighters, civilian suffering, and the moral weight of telling the story.

  • observational
  • somber
  • harrowing
  • documentary feel
  • journalistic
  • tense
  • Tone: dark, reflective
  • Pacing: variable, reflective then urgent
Why these movies?

The story pattern: A reporter or outsider is embedded with fighters or civilians, gradually drawn from detached observer into active participant. The narrative intercuts their field reporting with intimate portraits of the people they are documenting. Climactic scenes often place the witness in physical danger, forcing a reckoning between professional distance and human cost. Endings tend to be bittersweet, with testimony preserved but lives lost.

Why they belong together: They are linked by their journalist-observer framing, dual structure of personal story and frontline footage, and preoccupation with how conflict is reported, remembered, and survived. They share variable pacing that swings between quiet interviews or flashbacks and visceral combat, and an overall heavy emotional weight driven by the cumulative cost of bearing witness.

Every angle

Girls of the Sun (2019) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Girls of the Sun in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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