Solitaire (2016) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The story takes place in a Lebanese village, where family dynamics unfold against the backdrop of Lebanese-Syrian tensions. The characters' homes serve as the primary setting for emotional confrontations, while the surrounding streets reflect a society grappling with the Syrian refugee crisis. This setting shapes the story's conflicts by placing intimate family decisions within a charged cultural and political environment.

• lebanon
• village
• syrian refugees
• cultural tensions
• setting

Solitaire is set in contemporary times, reflecting present-day social issues surrounding refugee status and national identity in Lebanon. The modern setting grounds the story's conflicts in ongoing real-world tensions rather than historical events alone. This contemporary backdrop allows the film to address how older grievances between Lebanese and Syrian communities continue to affect personal relationships today.

• contemporary
• modern
• refugee crisis
• present-day
• timeline

The central conflict revolves around Therese's opposition to her daughter Ghada marrying a Syrian man, driven by her personal grief over a brother killed in a Syrian bomb explosion decades earlier. This personal loss becomes entangled with broader cultural prejudice, creating tension between individual happiness and inherited resentment. The film explores whether love and family bonds can overcome deeply rooted biases rooted in national trauma.

• central conflict
• prejudice
• marriage
• family tension
• cultural divide

Therese is the mayor's wife in a Lebanese village and the emotional center of the film's conflict. She is a strong-willed woman still grieving her brother's death in a Syrian bomb explosion twenty years before the story begins, and that loss fuels her prejudice against the Syrian family visiting her home. Throughout Solitaire, she embarks on a journey from rigid opposition to reluctant self-examination.

• therese
• mayor's wife
• grief
• prejudice
• lebanese

Samer is Ghada's prospective husband, a young Syrian man who travels with his parents to meet her family in Solitaire. He is portrayed as caring and sensitive, carrying the weight of societal stigma attached to his Syrian heritage. His love for Ghada is tested by the prejudices of her mother, Therese, but he demonstrates resilience and commitment throughout the engagement process.

• samer
• syrian suitor
• engagement
• resilience
• groom

Ghada is Therese's daughter, a young Lebanese woman torn between her loyalty to her mother and her love for Samer. She struggles with the expectations placed on her by her family while pursuing her own independence and happiness. Her journey toward self-acceptance and her willingness to fight for her relationship sit at the heart of Solitaire's emotional arc.

• ghada
• daughter
• independence
• love
• self-acceptance

Solitaire explores three interconnected themes: unity, racism, and love. The film examines how families divided by cultural and national prejudice can find reconciliation through empathy and dialogue. It also confronts the personal roots of racism, showing how individual grief can harden into bias, while celebrating love's ability to bridge seemingly unbridgeable divides.

• unity
• racism
• love
• reconciliation
• empathy
• themes

Solitaire confronts racism primarily through Therese's initial refusal to accept her daughter's Syrian suitor, a prejudice rooted in her brother's death during the Lebanese-Syrian conflict. The film challenges viewers to recognize how personal trauma can calcify into discrimination against an entire nationality. It advocates for dialogue and empathy as the path to dismantling inherited resentment.

• racism
• prejudice
• trauma
• empathy
• bias
• discrimination

The Lebanese-Syrian conflict provides the historical and emotional foundation for Solitaire's central tension. Therese's brother was killed in a Syrian bomb explosion, and that loss has shaped her worldview for two decades. Rather than serving as background detail, this history directly drives her opposition to the marriage and frames the engagement visit as a confrontation with the past as much as a meeting of two families.

• lebanese-syrian conflict
• history
• trauma
• bomb
• war

Solitaire blends humor with serious emotional content, using awkward social situations and cultural misunderstandings to generate comedy while exploring grief, prejudice, and marital strain as dramatic stakes. The film balances lighthearted moments, such as the tense engagement dinner, with heavier scenes of confrontation and loss. This tonal mix gives the story accessibility while still engaging with difficult subject matter.

• comedy-drama
• genre
• tone
• humor
• bittersweet