Apple: Relax, it's iPhone (Saudi Arabia)

Saudi stories where iPhone camera features become part of the comedy.

A little family drama can make a camera feature easy to understand. For Ramadan 2025, the Saudi Relax films borrowed the heightened emotions and familiar relationships of Saudi soap operas. Each story lets an iPhone feature tip the scene in an unexpected direction.

In The Matchmaker, an aunt uses slow motion to make a potential husband look rather more impressive. In The Favourite Son, a father can rearrange his loyalties simply by changing the focus of a photograph. The demonstration and the joke happen at the same moment.

As creative director, I led the team from strategy through production, developing the situations and writing the scripts and copy. We shaped the cultural choices and cast together. I worked closely with the director and composer on performance, timing and music.

We considered a broad range of actors before settling on recognisable Saudi names. A familiar face does useful work in a short film. The audience can place the character quickly, leaving more room for the joke.

The 2025 cast brings together Abdullah Al Sadhan, known for two decades of Tash Ma Tash; Adwa Bader, the lead in NAGA and a 2023 TIFF Rising Star; Reem Al Habeeb; and Waleed Alkahtany. Established television comedy meets a newer generation of Saudi screen talent.

The 2025 films were directed by Ali Kalthami, co-founder of Telfaz11 and director of Mandoob. The stories give ordinary exchanges the weight of a television drama; the comedy comes from how seriously the characters take them.

That dramatic world carries into the score. Composer Layal Watfeh, whose work spans film and television, created the 2025 music, with Ahmad Mostafa Zaky credited as assistant composer. We worked across writing, performance and music to keep that comic idea consistent.

The 2026 films take the same instinct into new settings: a confrontation, an unsteady ride, a volleyball court and an office nap. Dual Capture, stabilisation, Center Stage and zoom each become a way to reveal the comedy in the situation. The scenes change; the feature still earns its place in the story.

Campaign Middle East framed the 2025 films as an homage to Saudi soap operas, highlighting the familiar cast and the everyday drama behind the jokes. Smashi Business picked up the dark humour and portrait-focus reveal of The Favourite Son.