Two women fleeing from their oppressive lives find friendship on the open road in this independent drama from writer/director Rachid Bouchareb. A 26-year-old immigrant from North Africa, Mona (Golshifteh Farahani) has settled into a stagnant marriage with Mourad (Roschdy Zem) -- a man who cowers in the presence of his domineering mother. Although Mona makes a decent living running her in-laws' modest Chicago market, the fact that she's been unable to conceive has begun to put a strain on her relationship with Mourad. Meanwhile, 29-year-old aspiring belly-dancer Marilyn (Sienna Miller) has just been fired from her receptionist job at a small computer-repair company when she catches her husband cheating. It's the last straw in a long line of disappointments, and just the motivation she needs to skip town and try out for a famous dance company in Santa Fe, NM. When a mistake mixing medications results in her mother-in-law's death, Mona flees town for fear of being charged with murder, and happens across Marilyn at a highway rest stop. Although the two women had been casual acquaintances ever since Marilyn began frequenting Mona's store, they gradually begin to forge a closer bond while traveling across the country, and earning money by belly dancing. Meanwhile, Marilyn's husband reports her missing, and the police begin a nationwide manhunt for Mona. Now the farther both women flee from their old lives back home, the stronger their friendship grows, and the less certain their futures become.
