It Must Be Heaven (Arabic: إن شئت كما في السماء, romanized: ʾin šiʾtu kamā fīs-samāʾ, lit. 'If you wish, as in heaven') is a 2019 internationally co-produced comedy-drama film directed, written and starred by Elia Suleiman. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
It was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
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Plot
A Palestinian man travels abroad. He encounters strange and familiar scenes.
Reception
As of October 2021, the film holds a 96% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "An entrancing blend of the poignant and the absurd, It Must Be Heaven finds writer-director Elia Suleiman returning to action in peak form." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 69 out of 100, based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable".
Awards
At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, It Must Be Heaven received the Special Mention from the Main Competition Jury, and the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film In Competition.
At the 2019 Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF), the film was awarded 4,000 € in broadcasting rights in Belgium.