This is the kind of movie that puts my privilege into perspective.

So, this is a documentary movie, a Finnish production at that, about three women in Kabul, whose lives are upended by the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Throughout the film we see how the rules become harsher and how Taliban gets more brutal about how they enforce their arbitrary rules.

I have so much freedom. I can just do stuff. Like this morning, before leaving to see this movie, I was making a list of great Borderlands themed videos on YouTube. Not really important to anyone, but something fun. Sure, I still have duties, like going to work and so forth, but even there I have a lot of control over it. I am able to express myself, explore things I’m interested in and just immerse myself in whatever project I find fun. This is what I want for everyone. There is no civilization, unless it provides these opportunities. No-one is free until we are all free.

Outwardly I might not share much with these women, but that’s just the kind of thinking the people perpetrating and okaying these crimes want us to practice. I find so much in common with these women. Sure, I might not be into muay thai, like one of the women, but I still understand the need to do it, to just use your body for your own purposes and fulfill your own needs.

The Secret Reading Club in the title is something that comes up all the time, but this isn’t about that. It’s just a way the women (and others around them) find community and are able to discuss their experiences. The book they read is Anne Frank’s Diary. They relate very strongly to her experiences and often compare that to their own. It’s like group therapy for them.

Yet, that’s just something you can use in the marketing, not central to the movie. The struggles are in many ways individual because any kind of organizing is just so dangerous.

If you want to nitpick (and you shouldn’t), you can say some things said in the film feel a bit too convenient, like they were rehearsed. Doesn’t mean they weren’t true, it just means that they wanted to record it in a specific way. Also, of course, much of this was shot by amateurs with their phones, with many faces censored. The limitations are visible. At the same time, this gives the movie weight.

Should you see it? Yes. Not sure how widely this will be available, because it is a Finnish production, but hopefully it can reach people widely.

Finally, here’s an idea for Taliban, free consulting if you will: If these women are such corrupting forces, why not use them as weapons? Give them the money they need to live abroad and let them corrupt Europe. If they are indeed so dangerous, uncontrolled they will surely topple our societies in no time at all. Just try it.