Welcome to Something Good, the arts and culture newsletter from The Conversation, which aims to cut through the noise and recommend the very best in new releases and events every fortnight. It's our off week, but that doesn't mean nothing is happening in arts and culture.

Few stories in recent British history have stirred more debate than that of Shamima Begum. She was one part of the so-called “Bethnal Green trio” – three east London schoolgirls who left the UK in 2015 to join Islamic State in Syria. At the heart of the debate was a single question: should Begum be treated as a dangerous extremist, or as a vulnerable teenager groomed into joining a terrorist group?

Inspired by Begum’s story, new film Brides turns the lens not on guilt or innocence, but on the forces that might lead a teenage girl to make such a life-altering decision.

The film tells the story of teenagers Doe (Ebada Hassan) and Muna (Safiyya Ingar) who embark on a hazardous journey to the Syrian border. Rather than focus on their radicalisation, Brides is styled as a buddy adventure film, interspersed with flashbacks that show the events that led to their decision.

Courtesy of Warner Brothers

For our reviewers, who have researched the portrayal of Muslim women in British cinema, the film represents a rare achievement. Not only does it pass the Bechdel test, which evaluates gender representation by assessing whether at least two named women engage in a conversation about something other than a man. But it also passes the Riz test, an evaluative framework inspired by actor Riz Ahmed’s 2017 speech to the UK House of Commons. It measures whether Muslim characters are portrayed with agency beyond stereotypes of terrorism, oppression or religiosity.

It's not the first film to explore post-9/11 Britain through a Muslim lens. But it is, they argue, the first to address the personal impact of racism and Islamophobia through the lens of young Muslim women, whose choices stem from complex social and emotional factors, rather than a duty to Islam.

Brides is in select cinemas now

Do you ever think about frameworks like the Bechdel and Riz tests when watching a film? And do you think they’re a useful way to highlight gaps in representation? Answer our poll to share your thoughts. And we’d love to hear about films you’ve seen that dramatically pass – or fail – either of those tests. Reply to this email to tell us about them.

Last week, we asked you: “Which classical fictional spy is the best?” A whopping 69% of you voted for John le Carré’s George Smiley. And our reader Ben Whitby recommended the spy writing of Len Deighton. He said: “The Game, Set and Match trilogy is as good as le Carré in terms of entertainment, without the sour cynicism.”

Anna Walker
Senior Arts & Culture Editor